Enslaved
by Ohfortheloveofpete
Summary: An unfortunate teenage mermaid ends up being enslaved by a widower that wants her to do his chores for him. Also, she gets to meet his dimwitted (yet friendly) son.
1. Chapter 1: A New Life

Enslaved

_In this story, we're going to see a mermaid get enslaved! Oh dear...but not to worry, it's not going to be depressing. It's actually going to be rather...comedic._

_Yes, I'm trying to make One Piece slavery funny...just a random idea that popped out of my head one day._

_It's not going to be entirely comedic though...it's also a Friendship fanfic! You like friendship, right?_

**Chapter 1: A New Life**

Pearl let out a sigh as she was brought out to the auction hall. Several bidders were rather excited to see a female mermaid for sale. An attractive female mermaid no less.

Pearl in question had a sky blue tail, and had blonde, wavy (yes, pun intended) hair that went halfway across her back.

Unfortunately, her friends had decided to dare her to touch a marine ship...she had touched it and had immediately been caught by marine divers.

Apparently, it wasn't the smartest dare in the world. In fact, it appeared to have been the worst mistake of her life.

"Let's make belly off of her!" they had said. "There goes my freedom." she had thought.

How she wished that she and her kin weren't so valuable to humans.

Oddly enough, despite trying to remove pirates from the world, they didn't seem to care about slavery. In fact, they openly encouraged it.

"The hypocrites." thought Pearl. She was starting to see why so many people were turning to piracy these days. Why, the week before she had been caught by the marines, she had met a pirate boy that could stretch out his body like rubber.

Personally, she wished that she could do things like that. She could show off to her friends.

Then again, by the looks of things, she was going to have to eat devil's fruit if she wanted to pull that off...and since that would make her unable to swim, that probably wasn't such a good idea.

"I'd be a fish out of water and a mammal out of land." thought Pearl.

It was a shame that devil fruits suffered from a drawback like that. They would be a lot more useful otherwise.

"I wonder whose going to buy me?" inquired the mermaid. It could be anyone, really. There were a lot of people looking to have her as a trophy.

Sure enough, there were a bunch of unfriendly-looking fellows in the crowd, including human and fishmen. One of them even happened to be a giant, and a few of them happened to be dwarves.

She got the feeling that regardless of who she ended up with, she wasn't going to like them. None of them seemed to be very friendly.

"I guess I'm going to have to prepare for the worst." spoke the mermaid.

Oddly enough, she had been dressed in a prison uniform...she was wearing a white shirt with black sprites.

Apparently, they really wanted her to know what was coming...not that she already knew.

Sure enough, the auctioneer stepped on stage. Personally, Pearl could not understand how he could be so jovial considering the circumstances. Was he secretly some sort of demon from Davy Jones' Locker?

He was dressed in a top hat and was wearing a purple uniform and a tie.

Already, she was starting to hate him.

"Welcome to another auction at the Human Auctioning House! I'm the auctioneer, Fredrick Van Hower!" exclaimed Fredrick.

"Hey there, Fredrick. Nice to meet you! Not!" bellowed Pearl.

"How dare you!" bellowed the auctioneer.

Fredrick whacked her on the head with his hammer for insulting him.

"Ow." said the mermaid, rubbing her head.

"Now then, where were we? Ah yes! Who would like to bid first!" exclaimed Fred.

One of the fishmen bid one million belly.

"Why is their currency called belly? Do they put it in their mouths?" inquired Pearl.

Another fishmen bid two million belly.

"Speaking of which, my stomach is starting to rumble..." noted the mermaid.

A human bid five million belly.

"Look at those numbers go." said Pearl.

A dwarf bid ten million belly.

"More and more belly..." spoke the teenage girl. Now she was really starting to get hungry.

A giant bid fifty million belly.

"Wow...giants have giant loads of cash." acknowledged the merfolk girl. Why didn't that surprise her?

Go figure.

Suddenly, she noticed that a rather obese man was in the crowd as well as his fourteen-year old son.

The obese man in question was named Lachell Scallop. Unlike most of the other slave buyers, he wasn't really evil...but he was very lazy and somewhat lecherous. He had red hair and was very fat, with his belly emerging from his sleeveless white shirt and blue jeans.

Due to the fact that his wife had died, he wanted something to fill the hole in his life...and it looked like Pearl was going to be it. He had just bid a hundred million dollar belly...and nobody else wanted to compete with that.

His son on the other hand was the very epitome of purity. However, he was a very dim individual, despite being fourteen years old. He was dressed in a green shirt and black pants, and had red hair.

His name was Oyster Scallop.

"What a coincidence...I happen to be fifteen." acknowledged Pearl. It appeared that they were both about the same age.

"Going once, going twice, sold to Lassell Scallop!" exclaimed the auctioneer.

Immediately, the slaveholders handed the mermaid to the man.

She let out a sigh.

"Off to the world of slavery I go." spoke Pearl.

Oyster put his hand on Pearl's right shoulder to comfort her. Apparently, he was trying to show her sympathy.

"Huh? Thanks." said the mermaid. At least his son appeared to be a better person than his father.

As a security precaution, the slaveholders put a slave collar on her waist, right below her belly button.

"Shouldn't this go around my neck?" inquired the teenage girl. She thought that was how slavery was supposed to work.

"We ran out of collars for the small merfolk...now all we have left now is the collars for big ones." answered one of the slave sellers. He wasn't sure if they would fit around her neck, anyway. Mermaids did come in different sizes.

"I see..." spoke Pearl.

"There! Now if you try to run away from me I'll just use this radar so I can find you!" exclaimed Lachell Scallop.

Immediately, he pulled out what appeared to be a GPS device. Pearl appeared to be a sky blue dot on the map.

It looked like she had nowhere to hide. No matter where she went inside his house, he would be able to find her.

However, Pearl asked him a very important question.

"How can I run away from you? I don't have legs. I'm only human above the waist." explained the mermaid, pointing out her tail fins.

Lachell Scallop sweatdropped. How exactly could he have forgotten about that?

"Funny...I was expecting this to be explosive..." questioned Pearl. Oddly enough, it didn't seem dangerous to her at all.

Her slavedriver explained his reasoning for not using one.

"I can't have an explosive collar! It will blow up my house! And I don't want to have to clean up your ashes! It's disgusting!" exclaimed Lachell.

"OK..." answered the mermaid. It was good to see that this particular slavedriver had standards.

Afterwards, one of the slave sellers asked if he wanted Pearl to be dressed to his liking.

He immediately noticed, and told the slave sellers what he wanted her to look like.

"What is he saying to them?" questioned the mermaid. She wasn't quite sure.

The slave sellers took Pearl to a nearby dressing room and began to change her clothes. She came out wearing a strapless sky blue bikini.

"This is so embarrassing..." spoke the mermaid as she began to blush. Personally she was hoping that she wouldn't have to wear such a revealing outfit.

Then again, she did happen to be a swimmer.

Lachell Scallop began to drool.

"I think you look beautiful!" exclaimed Oyster Scallop.

"Well, that's rather comforting. I don't like the way your father is staring at me though." answered Pearl.

She in fact had several admirers back at the ocean. Some of them even wanted to get her autograph.

It was a bit of a pain being so popular. In fact, being popular was what had gotten her in this mess. She simply couldn't resist a dare...even a dare as dangerous to mermaids as touching a marine ship.

For some strange reason, humans only seemed to stare at her torso rather than her tail. She wasn't quite sure why.

She still got the feeling that being a slave wasn't going to be fun, even with Oyster around to give her comfort.

Then again, he did seem to be rather sweet, even if he was rather unintelligent. Was he secretly an angel from the heavens?

It was a logical guess as any. Maybe he got kicked out due to low intelligence? He probably wouldn't fit in too well with them.

Lachell Scallop went to his car, which he had of course parked right outside the Human Auction House. Oyster Scallop picked up Pearl and buckled her to one of the back seats so that she could be safe.

He then buckled his seat and sat down next to her. Apparently, he was as attracted to her as his father was...

"I've never used one of these before." noted Pearl. Of course, why would she ever use one up until now? Cars were for land transportation and she was a sea creature.

"This is going to be so much fun! We're going to be best friends in the world!" cheered the teenage boy.

Immediately, he wrapped his arm around the left side of Pearl's neck and held her closer to him.

"Yeah...we're going to be best friends." answered the mermaid nervously.

Unfortunately, as she quickly discovered, the doors were childproof and she couldn't simply jump out of the vehicle.

Besides, she would risk getting herself killed...and she didn't want to die. At least, not yet.

Immediately, Lassell Scallop drove to his house, which looked to be fairly rundown. Oddly enough, it happened to be near a ocean.

"Well, at least I can look at that for comfort." said Pearl.

He then stepped out of the vehicle, picked up Pearl and Oyster (the latter of which had fallen asleep, as it was now nighttime), and took them to his son's room.

Sure enough, there was a bed (which apparently belonged to Oyster), as well as a hammock.

Lassell immediately pointed to the hammock. Oddly enough, it happened to be sky blue, much like the bikini she was currently wearing and her tail.

"Is this where I'm going to sleep tonight?" inquired Pearl curiously.

"Yes." answered Oyster's father.

"Funny, I was under the impression that I was going to have to sleep in a straw bed or something." said the mermaid, recalling the various merfolk that had been enslaved before her.

"Nah..." spoke Lachell Scallop. Apparently, he didn't have that kind of straw to go around, nor would he want to.

King Neptune did warn her (along with the rest of her race during a meeting) that there were humans out there that would try to make belly off of them and would keep them as trophies...maybe she should have listened to him a bit harder.

Then again, most of the mermaids thought that they were just rumors meant to scare young merfolk.

"How I wish that were true..." thought Pearl.

Shrugging, Pearl decided not to look a gift seahorse in the mouth. That hammock actually looked rather nice.

Immediately, she decided to lie down in it and see if it would make a decent bed...which it surprisingly did.

"Well, this is fairly comfortable...at least I won't wake up sleep-deprived..." answered the mermaid.

"Isn't this awesome?! We get to be roommates!" exclaimed Oyster.

"Yeah...I guess we do." nodded Pearl.

Immediately, he turned off the lights so that they could both go to sleep.

She let out a sigh. At least tonight wasn't going to be so bad. She didn't have any chores to do for the time being, though that would likely change in the near future. She was a slave mermaid now, wasn't she?

"Maybe I can try to escape now?" inquired the mermaid. Now seemed as good of a time as any. Lassell Challop wasn't currently keeping an eye on her, after all.

However, she then remembered that she had a problem...she now had a slave collar around her waist.

Was it true? Would he really be able to hunt her down if she tried escaping him? If so, there was no way out.

Granted, it was preferrable to being blown to bits by an explosive slave collar...but she wasn't looking forward to getting caught nonetheless.

It looked like she was stuck being a slave. There was no way for her to escape from her slavedriver for the time being.

"Well, I bet my friends are going to miss me." noted Pearl. Personally she was wondering how they were doing in her absence. Were their hearts breaking as she spoke?

On the other hand, they were the ones that dared her to touch a Marine ship in the first place.

She vowed that if she ever got out of this, she would never do something like this again.

Curious, she noticed that there appeared to be a key slot on the collar.

"Maybe the father has it?" inquired Pearl.

Then again, he probably had it heavily guarded.

"Something tells me that it isn't going to be so simple." thought the mermaid.

For all she knew, it was guarded by high security lasers that would fry everything they touched.

Then again, considering that he had declined the explosive slave collar, he may not resort to such gruesome methods.

"At least he seems to be a better person than those other slaveholders." thought Pearl.

Shrugging, she decided to go to bed. Hopefully she would be able to think up an escape plan by tomorrow.

Then again, she hadn't heard of any mermaid that had escaped from the slavedriver's clutches...except for that mermaid with green hair.

Apparently, she was the exception.

"Zzz..." murmured Pearl.

_Well, things don't seem to be going well for Pearl so far. Don't accept crazy dares from your friends, kids...they're more trouble than they're worth._

_In the next chapter, Lassell Scallop is going to make Pearl wash the dishes and the like...and no, he's not going to use a whip. He's too lazy for that...and he has standards._

_Oh, and she's going to befriend his dimwitted son...that's why this is a friendship story. Heh heh._


	2. Chapter 2: The Feather Of Retribution

Enslaved

_In this chapter, Lachell is going to make Pearl do some household chores...but thankfully his son is going to help her._

_Isn't that nice of him?_

**Chapter 2: The Feather Of Retribution**

Pearl woke up, at this point deciding to accept what labor her slavedriver had given for her.

Curious, she noticed that Oyster was still sleeping.

Shrugging, she decided to try fiddling with her GPS belt to see if she could remove it.

Unfortunately, she could not. It looked like it was stuck on her waist.

"Darn it! This belt is making me look like a man!" exclaimed Pearl.

At that very moment, Oyster woke up.

"Hey there..." said the mermaid.

"Hi!" exclaimed the teenage boy.

Immediately, she began to wonder how she was going to get it off.

"There's got to be a way out of this...maybe I could try going on a diet?" questioned Pearl. Maybe that way she could slip the GPS belt off of her.

"Why do you want to go on a diet?" inquired Oyster.

"Um, I'm getting fat?" asked Pearl.

"You're not getting fat! You look pretty!" exclaimed the teenage boy.

She began to blush.

"Your name is..."

"Oyster! What's yours?" asked Oyster.

"It's Pearl." answered the mermaid.

"Yay! Pleased to meet you!" exclaimed the teenage boy.

"Pleased to meet you too." nodded Pearl.

At that very moment, Oyster's father came into the room holding onto a list.

"Hey there." said Pearl.

Immediately, Lachell handed her a list.

"So...this is what I need to do today?" inquired the mermaid.

He nodded.

"Let's see...I need to get the mail...I need to wash the dishes...I need to mow the lawn...I need to mop the floor...and I need to wipe the windows...is that right?" asked Pearl.

"Yes. You heard me correctly." answered Lachell.

"That's it? I was under the impression that you were going to make me build a pyramid or something out in a hot desert sun." spoke the mermaid.

"Why would I do that?" inquired the man.

"I'm not going to look a gift seahorse in the mouth." noted Pearl.

Lachell left shortly afterwards.

"Make sure to do your job now...or you'll be suffering the punishment!" exclaimed the man.

"The punishment? That doesn't sound good..." answered the mermaid.

Oyster began to shiver.

Apparently, it was in her best interest to do her job right.

"I guess I'll start with the mail..." spoke Pearl.

Unfortunately, she realized that she had a problem as soon as she tried to get out of bed.

"Whoa!" exclaimed the mermaid.

"Are you OK?" asked Oyster.

"Yeah, I think so. Thanks for asking." answered the mermaid.

Unfortunately, due to the fact that she had a fish tail for legs, it appeared that she wasn't able to walk.

It looked like she was going to have to crawl.

Immediately, she began to crawl to the mail box.

"Well, I guess I'll get to the mail box eventually..." noted Pearl.

Much to her surprise, Oyster wanted to crawl to the mail box as well.

"Huh?" asked the mermaid.

"Let's race to the mail box!" exclaimed the boy.

"Um...sure." answered Pearl.

Thankfully, the mail box wasn't far away.

Oddly enough, she actually managed to win the race even though she was not used to crawling on the floor.

"Yay! You won!" exclaimed Oyster.

"Yes, I did." answered Pearl as she tried to stand up.

Immediately, she picked up the mail.

"Let's see now..." spoke the mermaid as she began to read through it.

As it turned out, there was a merfolk sale from the human auction house.

She began to frown.

"What's the matter?" inquired Oyster.

"They're selling more merfolk...just like me." answered Pearl.

"Oh no!" exclaimed the teenage boy.

"I'm starting to wonder if I'm one of the lucky ones..." spoke the mermaid.

Oyster began to cry.

"It's OK...I think I can live through this." said Pearl.

"You think so?" asked the boy.

Pearl nodded.

Oyster stopped crying.

Suddenly, she noticed something that concerned her.

"They're having a human sale too..." noted Pearl.

"What?!" exclaimed Oyster.

Immediately, he began to hug her bare stomach tightly, much to her surprise.

"Aah! Help me!" bellowed the teenage boy.

Pearl hugged him in return in order to comfort him.

"Don't worry...just stay away from scary-looking Fishmen and you should be fine...and while you're at it don't go on any dumb dares." said the mermaid.

"I actually got dared to jump off a cliff...so I did!" exclaimed Oyster.

Pearl raised an eyebrow.

"Did something hit you on the head?" asked Pearl.

"Yes...I hit my head on a rock on my way down..." said the teenage boy.

"That explains a lot..." answered the mermaid.

She was starting to feel sorry for Oyster.

Immediately, she began to crawl towards his father, carrying his mail in her mouth...which Oyster quickly noticed.

"The race is over! You don't have to crawl anymore!" exclaimed the teenage boy.

"About that...I'm afraid that I can't walk." answered Pearl.

"How come?" inquired Oyster.

Pearl pointed to her fish tail.

"I can swim pretty well...but I don't have legs." explained the mermaid.

Curious, Oyster began touching her tail fins, causing her to giggle.

"Why are you tickling me?" asked Pearl.

"These are so cool! I wish I had these!" exclaimed Oyster.

Once again, she began to giggle.

Personally she wondered why she was so ticklish. At least she enjoyed it a bit.

"Is there any way you can turn me into a merman?" inquired the teenage boy, letting go of her fins.

"Sorry, I can't." answered Pearl.

"Awww!" exclaimed Oyster.

"It's OK...you'd have a bounty on your head the size of the Atlantic Ocean at the Human Auction House anyway..." noted the mermaid.

"Oh yeah..." answered the teenage boy.

Suddenly, he picked Pearl up and started carrying her bridal style.

"Hmm? Why are you picking me up?" asked the mermaid.

"I'm taking you around the house so you don't have to crawl!" exclaimed Oyster.

"Um...thanks." answered Pearl, who began to blush again.

Immediately, he carried Pearl towards his father, who was now carrying the mail in her hands rather than her mouth.

"That's better...though admittedly the mail did taste a bit like chicken..." noted the mermaid.

Oyster then took her to the kitchen so that she could wash the dishes.

"Again, I appreciate your help." said Pearl.

Immediately, she began to wash the dishes...which due to her hydrokinesis she was able to get done in no time flat.

"Wow! You rock at this!" exclaimed Oyster.

"Thank you." spoke the mermaid. At least her services were appreciated by somebody...even if she was technically a slave.

She then went to mow the lawn...only to find out that she had a problem.

"Um...I don't think I can do this without legs." answered Pearl.

"I'll take care of it!" exclaimed Oyster.

"Really? You will?" asked the mermaid.

Immediately, he began to mow the lawn...and he was done with it in just a few minutes.

"Nice job." said Pearl.

"Thank you!" exclaimed the boy.

Next up on the list was to mop the floor.

Once again, she was having trouble.

"How I wish I could walk..." thought the teenage mermaid.

Fortunately, Oyster was ready to help again.

"Thanks..." said Pearl.

Of course, the last job on the list was to clean the windows.

Fortunately, she didn't have to walk for that job...and her hydrokinesis got the job done quickly.

"Well, alright...now to do the other window and-"

However, as it turned out, Oyster had beat her to the punch.

"We're all done here!" exclaimed the teenage boy.

"I have to admit...you're a real saint." noted Pearl.

"That's what everyone tells me!" bellowed Oyster.

"Yeah...I can see why." nodded the mermaid.

Suddenly, she felt the urge to use the restroom.

"Do you know where the bathroom is?" inquired the mermaid.

Oyster immediately took her to the bathroom.

"Thanks." spoke Pearl.

"Er...how does a mermaid use the restroom?" asked Oyster.

Pearl's cheeks turned red.

"Er, um...well, you see..." answered the mermaid.

"Never mind! I don't want to know!" exclaimed the teenage boy.

Pearl let out a sigh of relief.

Immediately, she opened the door and closed it behind her.

_A few minutes later..._

"That's better." said Pearl.

Curious, she decided to check the mirror so that she could look at her new strapless bikini.

"Wow! Oyster was right...I do look beautiful in this!" exclaimed the mermaid.

She had to admit, she was rather embarrased at first...but now, she thought it looked perfect on her.

"I've got to show this to my friends when I went home." spoke Pearl.

She then noticed the GPS belt was still around her waist.

"Or if I get home..." sighed the mermaid.

Immediately, she decided to go see Oyster again. He was in his room staring at the ceiling.

"Hi there!" exclaimed the teenage boy.

"Hey there." answered the teenage mermaid.

Suddenly, he pulled out a shirt.

"Hmm?" inquired Pearl.

He handed it to the mermaid.

"What's this?" inquired the slave.

"Now you won't have to crawl around our house in a strapless bikini anymore!" exclaimed her slavedriver's son.

"Thanks...but I've already come to terms with it." answered Pearl.

"How come?" asked Oyster.

"Well, you were right...it really does look good on me." spoke the mermaid.

"But you're showing off so much skin!" exclaimed the teenage boy.

"Well, yes...but my race happen to be perpetual swimmers...so..." answered Pearl.

"Good point..." nodded Oyster.

"Still, I am stuck wearing this GPS belt..." noted the teenage girl.

"Wasn't it originally meant to be a slave collar?" inquired the teenage boy.

"Yes...but they decided to use it as a belt as it was too big for me otherwise..." explained Pearl.

"Oh yeah..." nodded Oyster.

"Your father sure has a taste for girls, doesn't he?" inquired the teenage girl.

"Yeah...I saw him looking at a swimsuit magazine once..." answered the teenage boy.

"I see..." answered Pearl.

"Maybe that's why he wanted a mermaid..." noted Oyster.

"Maybe..." nodded the mermaid.

"So, you want go to the ocean? I would imagine that you want to...since you're a mermaid and all...right?" inquired the teenage boy.

Pearl's eyes widened.

"Did you say...the ocean?" asked the mermaid.

"Yeah...it actually isn't too far from our house." answered Oyster.

Sure enough, she could see it out in the distance.

"Hmm...I have to question what your father was thinking when he decided to imprison me here..." noted Pearl.

"How come?" inquired the teenage boy.

Pearl sweatdropped.

Immediately, she began to leave the house.

"Where are you going?" asked Oyster.

"Goodbye, Oyster! I'll never forget you!" exclaimed Pearl.

"What?!" bellowed the teenage boy.

Immediately, she began to crawl towards the ocean...which of course was her ticket home.

Oyster sighed. They had only just met.

He went to his room and began to lie down.

"I'm going to miss her..." said the teenage boy.

A tear began to leave his eye.

"How I wish she would come back..." noted Oyster.

_A few minutes later..._

Pearl was feeling rather excited. Pretty soon she was going to be home free. She was so happy that she could sing a song...maybe Under The Sea? That would be an awfully fitting song considering what she had been through.

She could not wait to see her friends again. Granted, her friends had gotten her into this mess...but she still wanted to see them anyway. Friends were friends, right?

Of course, she was going to miss Oyster...but she was sure that he would understand. He wanted her to be happy, right?

Maybe she could come back and visit him one day. Then again, she would have to avoid his father so that she wouldn't get caught...but that was a risk that she was willing to take.

However, she couldn't help but shake the feeling that she was forgetting something.

"What was it that I'm forgetting? I think it was something important..." questioned Pearl.

"Gotcha!" exclaimed Lachell Challop, grabbing her by her tail fins.

"Oh right...my GPS belt." spoke the mermaid.

"Did you really think that it would be that easy to get away?" inquired the man.

"You're right, I should have known that it was going to be too easy." answered Pearl.

"You're coming back with me!" bellowed the slavedriver.

"At least I'll get to see Oyster again." thought the mermaid.

Of course, since he was holding her by the tail fins, she couldn't help but giggle.

Unfortunately, he thought she was laughing about something else.

"What's that? Are you laughing at your own slavedriver?! Do you think I'm a clownfish?!" bellowed Lassell Challops.

Pearl sweatdropped. Apparently, he did not realize that she was ticklish.

She was about to explain that to him...but already he had jumped to conclusions.

"Well then...I guess it's time for me to teach you a lesson in respect!" exclaimed the man.

Pearl gulped.

Immediately, he began to drag her back to his house.

"This isn't going to be fun..." murmured the mermaid.

"Darn right!" exclaimed the man.

_A few minutes later..._

"Please! Just let me see her one more time! That's all I ask!" bellowed Oyster.

Suddenly, Oyster's father burst into his room carrying Pearl.

"Oh my gosh! My wish came true!" exclaimed the teenage boy.

"What wish?" inquired the mermaid.

"I, um...wished you would come back." said Oyster.

Pearl sweatdropped.

"I'm so sorry..." apologized the teenage boy.

"It's OK...I don't mind your company...though I would have liked my freedom." acknowledged the teenage girl.

"She had the audacity to laugh at me!" exclaimed Lachell Scallop.

"You laughed at his face?" asked Oyster.

"I wasn't! I was just ticklish!" exclaimed Pearl.

"Oh yeah..." acknowledged the teenage boy, recalling how she had giggled when he had touched her fins.

"You liar!" bellowed the slavedriver.

Pearl sighed. Apparently, Oyster's father didn't trust her.

"Now it's time for your punishment!" exclaimed the father.

"Are you going to use a whip?" asked the teenage mermaid.

"That's too good for you!" bellowed Lachell Challops.

Pearl's jaw dropped in shock.

"It's time for you to give you the ultimate punishment!" exclaimed the man.

Pearl's blood ran cold.

"Behold! The Feather Of Retribution!" shouted Oyster's father.

Immediately, he pulled out a rather large feather.

Pearl's pulse settled, and she raised an eyebrow.

"The Feather Of Retribution?" asked the mermaid.

Oyster gasped in shock.

"No! Not the Feather Of Retribution!" exclaimed the teenage boy.

"She must suffer the consequences!" bellowed Lachell Scallop.

Immediately, he began to use the Feather Of Retribution to tickle Pearl's bare midriff.

"Hahahahahaha!" laughed the mermaid.

"I can't watch!" exclaimed Oyster, covering his eyes.

Lachell Scallop continued to tickle Pearl.

"Heeheeheeheehee!" giggled the teenager.

Oyster was still covering his eyes, and was shivering in revulsion.

"Hohohohohohoho! Merry Christmas! Wait, what?" inquired Pearl.

Oyster opened one of his eyes in curiousity...and wished he hadn't.

Immediately, he fainted on the spot.

Eventually, Lachell Challops put away the Feather Of Retribution.

"Are you going to be a good girl this time?" inquired the man.

"Yes, sir." nodded Pearl with a smile on her face.

"Good. I'm going grocery shopping." spoke Lachell.

Immediately, he left the room to go grocery shopping.

"Wait...if he's not home, then that means I have the opportunity to..."

Lachell quickly shut the door behind him and locked it.

"...escape." sighed Pearl.

Shortly afterwards, she found herself being hugged by Oyster.

"Huh?" asked the mermaid.

"Oh thank goodness you're alright! I was worried that you were going to die!" exclaimed the teenage boy.

"Don't worry, I'm fine. It was actually kind of fun..." answered the mermaid.

"You are so strong. I salute you." noted Oyster.

"Really, it was nothing!" exclaimed Pearl.

"But when he uses the Feather Of Retribution on me...I break down in seconds!" bellowed the teenage boy.

"How often does he use it on you?" asked the mermaid.

"Only when I've been really bad..." explained Oyster.

"Like...when?" inquired Pearl.

"Like the time I ate five of his briefs..." answered the teenage boy.

"You ate his briefs?" asked the teenage girl.

Oyster began to cry.

"They tasted like chicken wings!" bellowed the boy.

"There there...tell me all about it." answered Pearl, patting him on the back.

"Well, I bet they would have gone great with barbecue sauce." noted Oyster.

"You actually make me want to try eating his briefs right about now...they sound like a pretty good alternative to tofu." acknowledged the teenage girl.

"Don't eat them! You'll end up getting tortured! Please, I beg you!" bellowed the teenage boy.

"OK OK. I won't. Happy?" asked Pearl.

Oyster hugged her in relief.

"You sure are a hugger." acknowledged the teenage girl.

"Sorry, sorry! I'll respect your boundaries!" exclaimed the teenage boy.

"No no no. It's fine. You can hug me all you want. It makes me feel special." answered Pearl.

"It makes me feel special too..." noted Oyster.

Immediately, he went to the door so that he could go watch TV.

"Um, Oyster..." said Pearl.

"What?" asked Oyster as he reached for the doorknob.

He then quickly realized that he had a problem.

"The door! It's locked! Oh no!" bellowed Oyster.

Unfortunately, it appeared that Lachell Scallop had accidentally locked his son in his room along with Pearl in his efforts to make sure that she didn't flee for the hills.

"Noooo! We're going to die of starvation!" exclaimed the teenage boy.

"Die of starvation?" inquired Pearl.

"Don't eat me!" bellowed Oyster, cowering in fear.

Pearl sighed. This was going to be a long day.

_So, how did you enjoy this chapter? Did you think it was better than the first? Did you think it was worse? Let me know._

_See you!_


	3. Chapter 3: A New Bed

Enslaved

_In this chapter, Pearl is going to get a new bed...which Oyster will helpfully provide. Isn't that nice of him?_

**Chapter 3: A New Bed**

Pearl's stomach began to grumble. She hadn't had anything to eat ever since she had become a slave.

"I'm famished..." thought the girl.

"Don't eat me! Please! I'll do anything!" exclaimed Oyster.

"Don't worry, Oyster. I'm not going to eat you. You're my buddy." answered Pearl.

Oyster let out a sigh of relief. That's what friends were for, right?

Immediately, he handed Pearl some chocolate bars.

"Huh? What are these?" inquired the teenage girl.

"You haven't had chocolate before?" asked Oyster.

"I don't think we have chocolate back where I come from..." answered Pearl.

"Really? That's too bad." said the teenage boy.

"We do have a lot of seaweed though...it comes in many different flavors." noted the teenage girl.

"Interesting..." spoke Oyster.

Curious, Pearl decided to take a bite out of a chocolate bar to see if she enjoyed it.

Sure enough, she did. In fact, she began to eat them ravenously.

"Oh my gosh! I just can't get enough!" exclaimed Pearl.

"Hey! Save some for me!" bellowed Oyster.

"Alright, you can have half and I'll have half..." spoke the teenage girl.

Oyster took his time...while Pearl ate the chocolate bars in five seconds flat.

"Man, I've got to stop eating like this...I'm going to get fat." answered the mermaid.

"Oh no! I'm making you morbidly obese!" exclaimed Oyster.

"Don't worry...I'm sure my metabolism can handle it." spoke Pearl.

Oyster let out a sigh of relief.

"I was only joking." spoke the mermaid.

"You've got so much chocolate on your face..." said the teenage boy.

"What? Oh dear." answered Pearl.

Oyster wiped the chocolate off of her face.

"Thanks." spoke the mermaid.

"When do you think my father will be back?" asked Oyster.

Pearl shrugged.

"I want to get out of here..." said the teenage boy.

"Me too..." agreed the mermaid.

"What should we do to pass the time?" inquired Oyster.

"Hmm..." thought Pearl.

Curious, she began to search the room for something that they could do.

"Funny, I was under the impression that he would be back by now..." noted the mermaid.

_Meanwhile..._

"Darn it! Why is this line taking so long?!" exclaimed Lachell Scallop.

Unfortunately, there were a lot of people at the market today.

"Grrr!" bellowed the man.

Things just weren't looking good for him today.

"Why does this market have to be so packed?" inquired the man.

Personally he wished that they would all just go away.

Not only that, but his grocery cart had lost one of his wheels.

He wanted to tell one of the employees about it...but he didn't want to lose his place in line.

"Hurry up!" exclaimed Lachell Scallop.

"Sorry." apologized the man next to him.

"I've got to get back to my son..." thought the man.

Now that he thought of it...didn't he lock him in the room with Pearl?

"I hope he's doing OK. I remember what happened the last time I didn't keep an eye on him." noted Lachell Scallop.

_"Hi there, Mr. Fishman! How are you doing today!" exclaimed Oyster._

_"I'm going to eat you for supper!" bellowed "Mr. Fishman"._

_"Aah!" screamed the teenage boy._

_Immediately, he began to run away from Mr. Fishman, who was now carrying a knife and a fork._

_Fortunately, his father was there to help him._

_"Help me! There's a monster!" exclaimed Oyster._

_Lachell Scallop immediately pulled out a shotgun._

_"Stand back! I'm warning you!" bellowed the man._

_"You're no fun." answered Mr. Fishman, walking away looking rather dejected._

_Oyster let out a sigh of relief._

_"We need to move away from Fishman Island..." noted Lachell Scallop._

_Oyster nodded._

"Thank goodness I didn't enslave a fishman..." acknowledged Oyster's father.

_At Oyster's house..._

"How ironic...I'm a mermaid playing go fish." noted Pearl.

"Isn't irony fun?" asked Oyster.

"I guess it is." answered the mermaid.

"Got any threes?" inquired the teenage boy.

"You already asked me that." said Pearl.

"Got any fours?" asked Oyster.

"Go fish...just don't fish for me. I don't want worms in my mouth." answered the teenage girl.

"Right, of course." nodded the teenage boy as he picked up some cards.

"You got any sixes?" asked Pearl.

"I've got loads!" exclaimed Oyster.

"Wow...I must be really lucky." answered the mermaid.

"You betcha!" bellowed the teenage boy.

Suffice to say, Pearl ended up winning the game, and they put the cards away.

Oyster gave her a high five.

"Good game. What should we do next?" inquired the teenage boy.

"Maybe we could read a book?" asked Pearl.

Sure enough, Oyster appeared to have several books in his room.

"I know! How about Moby Dick? That seems interesting enough." noted the mermaid.

"Funny, I was under the impression that since you were a slave that you couldn't read..." acknowledged Oyster.

"Not a bad assumption...but I can read just fine." answered Pearl.

"What kind of books do you read?" inquired the teenage boy.

"Mainly adventure ones." spoke the teenage mermaid.

"Should we read the book together? Or should one of us read it out loud?" asked Oyster.

"I guess I'll read it out loud." answered Pearl.

Oyster immediately sat on the floor.

_Around thirty minutes later..._

"Sheesh! Captain Ahab is one deranged maniac!" exclaimed Oyster.

"Yeah...there are some people like that that want to sell mermaids like me to the human auction house..." answered Pearl.

Immediately, she began to sigh.

"What's the matter?" asked the teenage boy.

"Nothing, nothing." spoke Pearl.

At that very moment, Lachell Challop unlocked the door.

"I'm back!" exclaimed the man.

"Um, hey." answered the mermaid.

Immediately, he began to put the groceries away.

"Can I have something to eat?" asked Pearl.

Lachell handed her some vegetables.

"Thanks..." said the mermaid as she began to put some in her mouth.

Oddly enough, Oyster happened to be eating some vegetables as well.

"Since when were you a vegan?" asked Lachell Challop.

"Since I met Pearl." answered the teenage boy.

Pearl began to smile.

Fortunately, she did not have to put away the groceries...Oyster already beat her to the punch.

"That was nice..." noted the mermaid.

Curious, she headed towards the family room to see what Lachell Scallop was watching on the TV.

As it turned out, he was watching...

...Pirates of the Carribean.

"Oh, would you look at that." answered Pearl.

"Cutler Beckett, you suck!" bellowed Lachell Scallop.

"I bet he does..." murmured the teenage mermaid.

Oddly enough, he didn't seem to notice her.

Immediately, she began to lie down on the couch.

"Is this some sort of marathon?" asked Pearl.

Apparently, it was.

Sure enough, the fourth film began to play...which featured a mermaid being captured by Blackbeard and his crew.

"Deja vu..." murmured the mermaid.

Eventually, the marathon was over, and Lachell turned off the TV.

"Off to bed I go." said the man.

Immediately, he went to his bedroom to get to sleep.

Curious, Pearl noticed that it was getting late. Maybe it was time for her to go to bed too.

Once again, she began to crawl around the house.

"This is actually kind of fun...it's still fifteen years before my tails split though..." answered the mermaid.

However, much to her surprise, Oyster was sleeping in her hammock.

"Hmm?" asked Pearl.

Curious, she gently woke him up.

"Huh?" asked Oyster.

"Erm...you're using my hammock." answered the teenage mermaid.

"Sorry, sorry! I just liked it better than my own bed, that's all!" apologized the teenage boy.

"It's OK...I can sleep on the floor." said Pearl.

"No no no no! You can use my bed!" exclaimed Oyster.

"Wait, what?" asked the mermaid.

"It's only fair." answered the teenage boy.

"OK then..." said Pearl, crawling towards Oyster's bed.

Immediately, she placed her head on the pillow and put the blanket right next to her bare shoulders.

"Dang this feels good!" exclaimed the teenage mermaid.

"Yeah...you probably needed that blanket more than I did." acknowledged Oyster.

"Hmm? Oh that's right...my slave outfit. Heh heh." answered Pearl.

"You sure you don't want a shirt? I've got one right here." answered the teenage boy.

Immediately, he pulled out a shirt saying "I Love Mermaids!".

"That's awfully sweet of you...but I've only kissed another mermaid once." answered Pearl.

Oyster sweatdropped.

"Don't worry...I'm pretty used to the cold...though this blanket feels like heaven." noted the mermaid.

"Glad you like it!" exclaimed the teenage boy.

Immediately, he went to turn off the lights.

He then went back to his new hammock a few minutes later.

Pearl then began to dream about the ocean.

"Look at all those waves..." murmured the mermaid.

_The next day..._

Pearl woke up with a yawn, ready to start the new day.

Likewise, Oyster was waking up as well.

"So...is your father going to give me a list of things to do today?" inquired the mermaid.

"Maybe..." agreed the teenage boy.

Sure enough, Lachell entered the room.

Suddenly, he gasped in surprise.

"Is something the matter?" asked Pearl.

Immediately, he became very angry.

He walked up to the mermaid and began to scowl.

"Did I something wrong?" inquired the mermaid.

"You stole my son's bed! You pushed him out, didn't you?!" exclaimed Lachell Scallop.

"What? No, I didn't!" bellowed Pearl.

"Lying to me again, are we? I guess the Feather Of Retribution wasn't enough for you!" shouted the man.

"Why don't you trust me..." murmured the mermaid.

Immediately, he wrapped up Pearl in the blanket she was using. All of a sudden, she found herself unable to move anything below the shoulder.

"Well, isn't this cozy?" questioned Pearl.

"Have fun being tied up! I'm going to the tavern to get myself some drinks!" exclaimed Oyster's father.

Immediately, he left Pearl alone with Oyster once again.

Curious, she looked down at the blanket holding her prisoner.

"Well...it looks I'm on a roll." noted the mermaid.

Sometimes she cracked herself up.

"Don't worry! I'll get you out!" exclaimed Oyster.

"Trying to be my hero, are we?" asked the mermaid.

Immediately, Oyster started trying to break her free.

Unfortunately, he was unable to free Pearl...at all.

"Well, I'll give you an A for an effort...I'd applaud you if my hands weren't stuck." said the mermaid.

"What are we going to do?" asked the teenage boy.

"Don't worry about it. This blanket feels amazing. I could use it all day." answered Pearl.

"Aren't you the optimist." said Oyster.

"Well, my friends told me that I usually had a smile on my face..." noted the mermaid.

"I would imagine so..." spoke the teenage boy.

Curious, she wondered what her chores were going to be today.

"I wonder what he wants me to do..." noted the mermaid.

Oyster grabbed the list his father had dropped on the floor and showed it to Pearl.

"Let's see now...wash the dishes again...wash the car...water the flowers...and clean up the bathroom...well, as much as I would like to do those things, I'm a bit tied up right about now." answered the mermaid.

"Yeah..." nodded Oyster.

"So, is there anything you want to do while your father's gone?" asked Pearl.

"Maybe watch TV?" inquired the teenage boy.

"That does sound good..." answered the mermaid.

Immediately, Oyster picked up Pearl and took her to the family room to watch the television.

He then changed the channel to a show that he liked to watch.

"Who lives in a pineapple under the sea?" asked a singing pirate on TV.

"Can you change the channel?" inquired Pearl.

"But it's Spongebob!" exclaimed Oyster.

"I met the guy once. He tried to beat me to death with a spatula and serve me as a Krabby Patty...a thousand of them, to be precise. I managed to escape...after about an hour of struggling against knotted hemp." explained the mermaid.

"That fiend!" bellowed the teenage boy as he changed the channel.

"I know...he was a complete and utter psychopath. Then again, so was his employer. He'll do anything for money these days." acknowledged the mermaid.

This time, he was watching a movie about a mermaid that wanted to become a human.

"That's better." said the teenage girl.

"This mermaid reminds me of you..." noted Oyster.

"Well, we do wear a similar outfit nowadays..." acknowledged the teenage mermaid.

"You sure do." answered the teenage boy.

"I'm a bit younger than her though." noted Pearl.

"Oh yeah...you're fifteen and she's sixteen." spoke the teenage boy.

"Yeah..." answered the teenage girl.

Of course, the protagonist inevitably decided to make a deal with an evil sea witch so that she could be human.

"Funny...I didn't have to make a deal with a sea witch in order to meet you." noted Pearl.

"Yeah...by the way, how can you breathe underwater and above it at the same time?" inquired Oyster.

"I've got a pair of gills in my hips..." said the teenage mermaid.

"You have gills in your hips?" asked the teenage boy.

"I know...merfolk tend to confuse people." noted Pearl.

"Where are your lungs then?" inquired Oyster.

"The same place as a human." spoke the teenage mermaid.

"Fair enough." answered the teenage boy.

Eventually, the movie ended, and Oyster decided to turn off the TV.

"So, are you done watching TV?" asked Pearl.

"Yeah." answered the teenage boy.

"Alright then. Can you take me back to bed? I want to rest my eyes..." said the teenage mermaid.

"Sure!" exclaimed Oyster.

Immediately, he took back Pearl to the bed that was once his.

"Thank you." said Pearl as she laid her head across the pillow.

"Let me know if you need anything!" exclaimed the teenage boy.

"I'm fine, thanks." answered the mermaid.

Oyster immediately left the room, leaving Pearl to her own devices.

"I wonder how his father's doing..." thought the teenage girl.

_Meanwhile..._

Unsurprisingly, Lachell Scallop was drinking loads of beer. Apparently, it had never occurred to him that he should try drinking in moderation.

Of course, the bouncer immediately noticed, and decided that he needed to take action.

"Easy there, buddy! Wouldn't want you to hurt yourself!" exclaimed the man.

"You're a bouncer, huh? Let's see how you bounce!" bellowed Lachell Scallop.

"What the-" said the tavern employee.

Immediately, he picked up the bouncer and began to bounce him around like a basketball.

"Security!" bellowed the unfortunate man.

Two security guards came and grabbed Lachell Scallop by the arms.

They then threw him out of the tavern.

"I didn't know that I could fly!" exclaimed the drunk man as he collapsed on the floor.

He was going to have a killer headache once the alcohol left his body.

"How many times has this happened?" asked the bouncer.

"About the third time this week." answered one of the security guards.

"Sheesh." answered the man.

_At Oyster's house..._

"Ah...that was a good nap." said Pearl as she slowly woke up.

Suddenly, she gasped in shock.

There was Oyster...in the exact same situation she was in.

"Um, hi?" asked Pearl.

"Hey there...I tried to get you out of there again...and let's face it, something went wrong." spoke the teenage boy.

"You're persistent, aren't you?" inquired the mermaid.

"Yeah..." answered Oyster.

"Well, I admire you for trying..." said Pearl.

"What are we going to do now though?" asked the teenage boy.

"I don't know...talk about our lives?" questioned the mermaid.

"Should I go first?" asked Oyster.

"Well, I happen to live underneath the ocean...in a small house to be precise..." said Pearl.

"I see..." answered the teenage boy.

"It's a rather nice place...though admittedly it gets a bit lonely there." noted the mermaid.

"OK then..." answered Oyster.

"Do you want to talk about yours now?" asked Pearl.

"Well...when I was five...my mother died." said the teenage boy.

"What?!" exclaimed the mermaid.

"I know...my faster was devastated." answered Oyster.

"I'm so sorry...how did she die?" asked Pearl.

"Well..." said the teenage boy.

_"Using this raft is so nice." said Oyster's mother._

_Sure enough, she was using a small raft to get around the ocean._

_"Nothing can possibly go wrong..." spoke the woman._

_At that very moment, a man-eating shark appeared._

_"Never mind..." said Oyster's mother._

"I'm so sorry for your loss." spoke Pearl.

"It's OK...I don't remember it too well. My father explained it to me." answered Oyster.

"I'd give you a hug if my arms weren't pinned to my sides. So I'll nuzzle you instead." answered the mermaid.

Immediately, she rubbed her nose against Oyster's face, causing him to giggle.

"Anything else you want to tell me about your old life?" asked the teenage boy.

"Well, it was usually pretty peaceful..." answered Pearl.

"That's nice." spoke Oyster.

"Then again I happened to live in a rather quiet town..." noted the teenage mermaid.

"If you lived in a quiet town, then how'd you get caught by humans?" asked the teenage boy.

"I went on a dare..." answered Pearl.

"Ah..." spoke Oyster.

"I'm never accepting a dare like that again." said the teenage mermaid.

"Right..." answered the teenage boy.

"I wonder what my friends were thinking..." answered Pearl.

"Your friends?" asked Oyster.

"Yes, my friends...they got me into this mess." explained the mermaid.

"Sorry to hear that." sympathized the teenage boy.

"Of course, they're probably feeling guilty about it now...I'm actually starting to miss them..." spoke Pearl.

Oyster frowned.

"It's OK...don't worry about it...I'm sure that I'll see them again eventually...hopefully not at the human auction house..." noted the mermaid.

"Yeah...hopefully not the human auction house...that place rots." answered the teenage boy.

"Much agreed." nodded Pearl.

"So...anything else you want to do?" asked Oyster.

"Just try to relax, I guess." answered the mermaid.

Immediately, the two of them began to relax.

"So, when do you think your father will be back?" asked Pearl.

"He does take his time at the tavern..." noted Oyster.

"I guess we'll just have to wait for him to rescue us...I'm going to rest my eyes again." answered the mermaid.

"OK! Me too!" exclaimed Oyster.

Immediately, the two of them began to rest their eyes.

It had been a long morning...

...yet also a somewhat enjoyable one.

_Oh dear! It looks like Oyster and Pearl have gotten themselves into a rather interesting situation...hopefully Oyster's father will undo what he started._

_Feel free to read and review!_


	4. Chapter 4: A Day At The Aquarium

Enslaved

_In this chapter...well, Pearl and Oyster are going to visit the aquarium. They're going to visit a restaurant afterwards...In the process they're going to meet another slave...who happens to be a fishman._

_Isn't that nice?_

**Chapter 4: A Day At The Aquarium**

After leaving (or should we say, getting kicked out of) the tavern, Lachell Scallop arrived back home.

"Right...I guess it's time to untie the mermaid now..." thought Oyster's father.

Immediately, he entered his son's bedroom...

...and gasped in shock.

There was his son, tied up in the same exact blanket Pearl was.

Oddly, neither of them seemed to mind.

"Hi there!" exclaimed Oyster.

"How are you doing?" asked Pearl.

"What happened?!" bellowed Lachell Scallop.

Immediately, he untied Pearl and Oyster, who began to stretch out their arms.

"I've got to stop leaving you alone..." noted Oyster's father.

"Yeah..." nodded Oyster.

Once again, Pearl did her chores. This time, she actually did so with a smile.

"All done!" exclaimed the mermaid.

"That was fast..." said Lachell Scallop.

She then handed him his remote.

"Thank you." spoke the obese man.

Oddly enough, he actually hadn't asked Pearl to do that...but she did it anyway.

She then crawled towards Oyster's room a few minutes later. He was currently lying on her former hammock.

Oddly enough, he seemed rather excited about something.

"What are you so happy about today?" asked Pearl.

"My father's taking me to an aquarium!" exclaimed Oyster.

"An aquarium?" inquired the mermaid.

"Yeah...we're going to look all the fishes..." answered the teenage boy.

"That...actually sounds like my cup of freshwater..." noted Pearl.

"Hmm..." thought Oyster.

Immediately, he left the room to go talk to his father.

"Where is he going?" asked Pearl.

He came back a few minutes later. He seemed more excited than ever.

"Why are you so happy?" asked the mermaid.

"My father said that you could come!" exclaimed Oyster.

"What? He did?" inquired Pearl.

"I just have to keep an eye on you..." said the teenage boy.

"Alright then..." answered the mermaid.

Immediately, he picked up Pearl and took him to his father's car...which of course they had washed just a few minutes ago.

"It looks good..." thought the mermaid.

Once again, Oyster buckled her in.

"Thanks...but I know how these work now." said Pearl.

"OK." answered the teenage boy.

Lachell Scallop entered the car and began to drive towards the aquarium.

Oddly enough, it wasn't too far from their house.

"Here we are." said the man.

Immediately, Pearl unbuckled herself, and Oyster picked her up so that he could show her around the aquarium.

Sure enough, there were some fish nearby.

Curious, she decided to have a chat with them, much to Oyster's surprise.

"You can talk to them?" he asked curiously.

"Of course I can. I'm a mermaid, after all." answered Pearl.

"Oh, right..." spoke the teenage boy.

"Can we help you?" asked a goldfish.

"We're just here to look around the aquarium, thanks." spoke the mermaid.

"Alright..." nodded a yellow tang.

"It's nice getting to talk to you though." noted Pearl.

"Have you seen my son?" asked a clownfish.

"He's right over there." answered the mermaid, pointing to the other side of the tank.

He appeared to be asleep at the moment.

"So...what's it like being in that tank?" asked Pearl.

"It's fine...though it feels weird suddenly getting thrusted into a new environment..." spoke a pufferfish.

"I'm with you there." answered the mermaid.

At that very moment, one of the fish noticed the belt that she was wearing.

"Why are you wearing a belt? You don't wear pants...or much clothing at all for that matter." questioned a starfish.

"Oh, that...you see, I happen to be a slave." answered Pearl.

Immediately, the fishes gasped in shock.

"You-you're a slave?!" bellowed a rockfish.

"Yes, I am..." answered Pearl.

"That's terrible!" exclaimed a rainbowfish.

"It's OK...it really isn't so bad." answered the mermaid.

"It's not? I heard that they make slaves wear slave collars that explode if they try to flee for the hills..." questioned a seahorse.

"Well, that's true...they just made me wear a GPS belt and went on it with it though..." said Pearl.

"Is that your friend over there?" inquired a surgeonfish.

"Oh, him...that's my friend Oyster...my best friend in fact. Personally I think that he's a sea angel..." explained the mermaid.

"Oh really? Right now he seems to be mocking us..." said a parrotfish.

"Huh?" asked Pearl.

Curious, she looked around, and noticed that Oyster was imitating the fish. She began to giggle.

"Oh don't worry...I'm sure he isn't mocking you. I just think that he's fascinated by how many of you are in that tank, that's all..." said Pearl.

Sure enough, Oyster stopped making faces.

"What do they have to say about me?" asked the teenage boy.

"What do you think of him?" inquired Pearl.

"I think he's an interesting fellow..." said the clownfish's son.

"Yeah, me too." answered the mermaid.

Immediately, Lachell Scallop beckoned for Oyster to keep on going.

Of course, he took Pearl with him.

"I'll see you later." spoke the teenage girl, waving goodbye.

Next up was the sea lion exhibit.

"Oh, would you look at that...they've got mammals here too..." said Pearl.

Unsurprisingly, they were bouncing a ball on their nose.

"Are you two having fun?" asked the mermaid.

The sea lions nodded...though it was a bit frustrating to have to take turns using the ball.

Granted, there were only six of them...but still.

"Good. I'm having a good time too. This aquarium feels like it was made for me." answered Pearl.

"I'm having a great time! I want to come here again!" exclaimed Oyster.

"I bet you are." nodded the mermaid. She was personally inclined to agree.

Next up was the dolphin exhibit.

Oddly enough, they happened to be asleep at the moment. Apparently, not all dolphins were as energetic as people thought they were.

"Awww!" complained Oyster.

"Sorry if you were expecting a show..." comforted Pearl.

"Zzz...where are all the hot dolphin babes...zzz...I'm a lonely dolphin here." murmured one of the dolphins.

"Give me...your phone number..." whispered another dolphin.

"Um..." noted the mermaid.

Personally, she was starting to get the feeling that Lachell Scallop would get on well with these dolphins if he could actually talk to them.

Maybe she could teach him how? Then again, he might not be interested in that sort of thing. He only wanted to talk to attractive females.

Next up was the penguin exhibit.

"Brrr...it's cold!" exclaimed Oyster.

"Really? I don't feel it..." answered Pearl.

"You did say that you could resist the cold pretty well..." noted the teenage boy.

"Oh yeah..." acknowledged the mermaid.

Sure enough, the penguins appeared to be eating fish at the moment, causing Oyster to gasp.

He realized what he had to do...or at least what he thought he had to do.

"Oh my gosh! Cover your eyes, Pearl!" exclaimed the teenage boy.

Immediately, he put his hand over Pearl's eyes.

"Why? What's the matter?" asked the mermaid.

"They're eating fish! It's horrific! Don't look! You'll have a heart attack!" bellowed Oyster.

"I will?" asked the teenage girl.

"Mermaids do have hearts, right?" inquired the teenage boy.

"We sure do." nodded Pearl.

"We need to get out of here!" exclaimed Oyster.

"Oh...about that. Don't worry...that actually doesn't scare me too much..." explained the mermaid.

"But you're a fish!" exclaimed the teenage boy.

"Well, technically I'm half-fish..." noted the human and fish hybrid.

"Are you a cannibal?! Don't eat me! Please! I don't taste good! I promise!" bellowed Oyster.

"What? No no no. I don't eat fish...though my fishmen buddies do." answered Pearl.

"Then why isn't this traumatizing you?" asked the teenage boy.

"Well, fish eat each other all the time...one rockfish told me about the sweet and buttery fish he ate...said that he was going to savor the flavor forever." answered the mermaid.

"Huh? Oh yeah...how could I forget that...but aren't you a vegan?" asked Oyster.

"Well, that's true...but I respect other cultures. You can let go of my eyes now." spoke Pearl.

Immediately, Oyster uncovered Pearl's eyes.

Next up was the piranha exhibit.

Sure enough, they seemed to be rather hungry.

"You're not thinking about eating Oyster, are you?" asked the mermaid.

"We happen to be herbivore piranhas actually..." answered one of the piranhas.

"Oh...never mind then. I also happen to be a vegan." spoke Pearl.

"Oddly enough we just met a fishman not too long ago..." noted another piranha.

"Well, how about that." answered the mermaid.

Their next stop was the shark exhibit.

"Funny, I was expecting these sharks to be bigger..." noted Oyster.

"Well, believe it or not, not all sharks are big. Most of them are actually pretty small..." acknowledged Pearl.

"So, I'll be safe if I go for a swim in saltwater?" asked the teenage boy.

"Most likely..." nodded the mermaid.

"That's a relief...I don't want to end up like my mother...eaten by a ferocious shark that should have never been allowed to roam the oceans...I wonder what his mother has to say about him?" murmured Oyster.

Pearl placed her hand on his shoulder.

"Thank you." said the teenage boy.

"It's the least I could do after what you did for me..." answered Pearl.

"Huh? Oh yeah..." remembered Oyster.

Their last stop for today was at the orca exhibit, where they were doing a water show.

Sure enough, the orca was doing all kinds of crazy stunts. It was some sort of acrobat, it seemed.

"Look at that killer whale go!" exclaimed Oyster.

"You could say that it's killing out there...heh heh." acknowledged Pearl.

"You sure like making puns, don't you?" questioned the orca.

"Well, sometimes I do." spoke the mermaid.

"Very funny." answered the killer whale.

"I know...sometimes the puns don't work too well." noted Pearl.

"I'm with you there." agreed the orca.

Sure enough, the show was over, and the audience immediately left.

"That was awesome!" exclaimed Oyster.

"It sure was." agreed Pearl.

"I'm hungry though..." complained the teenage boy.

"You want to go get something to eat?" asked Lachell Scallop.

Oyster nodded.

"Alright then..." nodded Oyster's father.

Once again, Pearl found herself being lifted off her fins.

This time, she buckled herself in, and Oyster followed suit.

Lachell Scallop then drove them towards a restaurant by the name of "Bumblebee's".

"Bumblebees, eh? I wonder who came up with that name..." questioned Oyster.

"Probably somebody who thought they were a queen..." noted Pearl.

Immediately, they sat down at a table, where a waiter began to look at them.

Oddly enough, he seemed to be staring at Pearl.

"What can I help you three with?" asked the waiter.

"I'd like some caesar salad." answered Pearl.

"I'll have what she's having!" exclaimed Oyster.

"I'll have some chicken wings..." said Lachell Scallop.

"I'll be back in a few minutes." spoke the man.

Shortly afterwards, Oyster's father went to use the restroom.

At that very moment, a nearby fishman decided to talk to them. Judging from the looks of it, he happened to be a great white shark fishman. As such, he had gray skin and sharp-looking teeth. He also happened to have black hair.

Though he was wearing a pair of ripped blue jeans and a pair of sandals, he was not wearing a shirt. Pearl found this to be a bit ironic, as for obvious reasons she never wore pants.

"You happen to be a slave, huh?" asked the fishman.

"Yes, I am. Why do you ask?" inquired Pearl.

"Well, so am I...my name is Sharky. Pleased to meet you." greeted Sharky.

Immediately, he shook hands with Pearl.

"Pleased to meet you too..." answered the mermaid.

Curious, she noticed that there was a pink anklet on his leg.

"Is that anklet designed to keep you from escaping?" asked Pearl.

Sharky nodded.

"Every time I get too far from my slavemistress, I get sprayed with knockout gas..." explained the fishman.

"Oh dear..." murmured the mermaid.

"It makes me look feminine..." complained Sharky.

"I'm with you there. I have to wear a belt that makes me look masculine...it's got a GPS device on it that my slavemaster can use to track me down if I try to escape...then again, considering that I can't walk, I wasn't really in a position to escape to begin with..." noted Pearl.

"So, how did you get into this mess?" inquired the great white fishman.

"A really dumb dare that my friends managed to talk me into regardless. I've got to stop succumbing to pressure by my peers...you?" asked the mermaid.

"Well, let me start from the beginning. Before I ended up becoming a slave, I happened to be a pirate..." narrated Sharky.

"A pirate?" inquired Pearl.

"Mm-hmm. I was part of a Morganeer crew by the name of The Fishman Avengers...we would go and rob the humans of their treasures...looking back it wasn't such a good career." noted the fishman.

"Yeah...if I ever became a pirate I would want to become a Peace Main...they seem peaceful enough, though admittedly they do steal things sometimes too..." acknowledged Pearl.

"Apparently, they noticed my reputation, because I was eventually able to climb my way through the ranks. I even became their captain at the mere age of seventeen...which oddly enough is still my current age." spoke Sharky.

"You did? Sounds like your life was perfect." noted the mermaid.

"For a moment, I thought the same thing. Unfortunately, becoming the captain was the easy part. The hard part was actually keeping my position..." said the former seafarer.

"I'm starting to see how you became a slave..." acknowledged Pearl.

"How quick to catch on. You see, the longer I kept my position, the more my crew started to despise me. They just didn't think that I was doing my job well enough. Now that I think of it, the captain that handed that position to me did seem rather happy about retiring..." continued Sharky.

"I think I know why..." nodded the teenage girl. By the sound of it, the Fishmen Avengers wouldn't be so hesitant to make someone walk the plank.

"Eventually, they declared mutiny against me. They thought I liked humans too much...said that I should be killing humans rather than simply looting them...and as part of the mutiny, they sold me out to a human landlady." said the fishman.

"How cruelly ironic..." acknowledged Pearl. She wouldn't be too surprised if the Fishmen Avengers had a good laugh about it shortly afterwards.

"I've been doing chores for her ever since...she took away my shirt since she said that it would make me hot and sweaty...I think we know the real reason why she didn't want me to wear a shirt though..." concluded Sharky.

"Funny you should mention that...my slavedriver made me wear a strapless bikini." spoke the mermaid.

"Well, would you look at that..." replied Sharky.

"Yeah, aren't we an attractive bunch..." answered Pearl.

Sure enough, everyone else in the restaurant appeared to be looking at them. They were starting to wonder if they were going to have to sign autographs soon.

"To be honest, I don't really mind being a slave nowadays...I actually feel somewhat appreciated...I met a girl that told me that humans are actually trying to save the ocean rather than simply pollute it than I had thought..." explained the fishman.

"That's awfully nice of her." complimented Pearl.

"In fact, she's right over here. Her name is Coral." said Sharky.

Sure enough, the girl that he had been talking about a few minutes later was eating lunch with him. She had short red hair and was wearing glasses. She was dressed in a red shirt and white pants.

Oddly enough, she happened to be eating the same food that Sharky was eating: a steak.

"Funny, she reminds me a bit of my best pal Oyster..." noted Pearl.

Curious, Coral left her seat and went to talk to Oyster.

"Hey there!" exclaimed the teenage girl, shaking Oyster's hand.

"Hi!" bellowed Oyster.

"That mermaid is right...we do appear to have a few similiarities..." acknowledged Coral.

"Well, Sharky does remind me a lot like myself...so go figure." noted Pearl.

Then again, Sharky happened to be a fishman while she was a mermaid...the two races tended to get along well though, though a few fishmen weren't above taking advantage of merfolk.

"I was thinking the same thing." agreed Sharky.

"How old are you?" asked Oyster.

"Sixteen." answered Coral.

"Fourteen here..." replied the teenage boy. "Your mother wouldn't happen to be a widow, would she? My father happens to be a widower..."

"Sorry to hear that, and yes...my mother does happen to be a widow." nodded Coral.

"That's terrible! What happened to your father?" asked Oyster.

"He got roundhouse kicked by Chuck Norris...he died instantly." explained the bespectacled girl.

"Wow." said the teenage boy.

"To his credit...my father did poke him with a stick." noted Coral.

"Wow...I'm not the brightest star on the planet and even I know that was a bad idea!" exclaimed Oyster.

"Yeah...I know. I decided that since I didn't want to make the same mistakes my dad did, I would spend my life reading books so that I can learn. It worked out pretty well for me...I graduated from high school at the age of seven." answered the teenage girl.

Oyster whistled.

"I'm still struggling to pass elementary school..." said the teenage boy.

"Sorry to hear that. Have you been living a sheltered life?" asked Coral.

"Yeah...ever since my mother died my father rarely lets me leave my home...he said that I strayed too far I was going to get myself killed and he would be all alone..." answered Oyster.

"That's what my mother said...that's why I turned to books." spoke the teenage girl.

"I turned to video games!" exclaimed the teenage boy.

"Mm-hmm." nodded Coral.

At that very moment, Coral's mother walked towards them.

"This is my slavedriver...Anemone Diver." said Sharky.

Unsurprisingly, she somewhat resembled Coral, as she also wore glasses and had red hair. Also, she happened to be rather slim.

"Um, hi?" asked Pearl.

"Every time I screw up...she slaps me in the face..." spoke the fishman.

"When I screw up, my slavedriver gives me the Feather Of Retribution...basically he tickles me into submission." explained Pearl.

"I see..." answered Oyster.

At that very moment, Lachell Scallop stopped by. He immediately stared at Anemone, and began to smile.

Sure enough, Anemone noticed him, and began to smile as well.

"Call me sometime." said the slavemistress, handing Lachell a card.

Immediately, she paid her bill and walked out of the restaurant along with Coral and Sharky.

A few minutes later, Pearl, Oyster, and Lachell decided to leave as well.

"It was funny meeting people like that..." noted the mermaid.

"Yeah..." agreed Oyster.

"She gave me her phone number! Yes!" exclaimed Lachell.

"Well, somebody's rather happy..." noticed the teenage boy.

"Yeah, they sure are..." nodded Pearl.

Personally Oyster wondered what this meant for his future.

Was his father...going to get married again?

These thoughts began to fill his head as they headed back home.

_Well, this was a rather interesting chapter, isn't it? Apparently there are people like Pearl out there._

_Don't worry, you aren't going to see any particular slavedrivers in this fanfic...I'm going to try to keep it lighthearted. I do want this to stay PG after all._

_See you!_


	5. Chapter 5: Another Misunderstanding

Enslaved

_Welcome back, everybody! To be honest, I wasn't sure if I was going to continue this fanfic due to lack of reviews…but I eventually decided to do it anyway since I got some ideas._

_In this chapter, well, Pearl's going to get in trouble with Oyster's father again…you do think that's funny, right?_

_Granted, though he's not the nicest character in the world…the story probably wouldn't be quite the same without him…besides, he's the source of some of the fanfic's humor. Heh heh._

_Let's see what happens this time._

**Chapter 5: Another Misunderstanding**

"You sure this is a good idea?" asked Pearl. She was well-aware of what had happened the last time she had tried using Oyster's bed…though admittedly it hadn't been so bad.

"Don't worry! I'll try to explain to him what's going on this time!" answered Oyster.

"If you say so." nodded the mermaid.

Perhaps using Oyster's bed was worth it considering how comfortable it was…ironically, Oyster had ended up in the same situation when he tried to save her.

Immediately, she went to sleep.

"Zzz…" murmured Pearl.

Curious, Oyster wondered what she was dreaming about.

"Oyster…" said the mermaid in her sleep.

Apparently, the two of them were close.

Shrugging, Oyster went to sleep as well.

As it turned out, he was dreaming about…pizza.

"Mmm…pizza." said Oyster.

And to make things better, it was his favorite flavor…cheese.

He just loved cheese pizza. Hopefully his father would get him some pizza too.

Maybe he could share some of it with Pearl. He was sure that she would appreciate it.

How much did a mermaid eat, anyway? He hoped that he didn't end up making her fat…that would make him feel guilty.

Besides, she needed to do chores around the house.

Fortunately, both of them got a good night's sleep.

However, his father went to check on them a few minutes later.

He wasn't happy with what Pearl had apparently done.

"You pushed him out of bed?! Again?!" exclaimed Lachell.

"Actually, she-"

Before Oyster had a chance to explain what was really happening, Lachell picked up Pearl by the fins, causing her to giggle.

"You're going to pay!" exclaimed Lachell.

"But I'm broke…" explained Pearl.

"I'll have to find another way to make you pay then!" bellowed the man.

"I'm done for." answered the mermaid.

"Darn right, you are!" exclaimed Lachell.

"Uh-oh…" thought Oyster. Knowing what had happened previously, this couldn't be anything good. What was he going to do to her?

He was about to find out shortly.

Immediately, his father went outside and began to bury her inside a sand castle using his trusty shovel.

"You have a shovel?" asked Pearl. She actually hadn't seen it before.

"As a matter of fact, I do!" exclaimed Lachell.

When she had been buried up to her chest, he then stuck a crown on her head to add insult to injury.

"Am I a princess now?" asked Pearl.

"Yes, you are! Have fun being part of a kingdom! Literally!" bellowed Lachell.

"Alright, I will." nodded the mermaid.

Feeling sleepy, Lachell went back to bed. Why did his slave keep tormenting his son? What did he ever do to her? He was under the impression that his son was incorruptible.

"Hmm…this sand feel awfully nice." noted the mermaid.

Immediately, Oyster went outside to where Pearl was.

"Oh my gosh! Are you alright?" asked the boy.

"Don't worry, I feel great!" exclaimed Pearl.

"But you're stuck inside a sand castle!" bellowed Oyster.

"But it feels good! Besides, he didn't bury me completely…so I'm not in danger of suffocating." pointed out the mermaid.

"Well, that's true." nodded Oyster. He was personally relieved by that to be honest.

Immediately, Pearl began to sigh out of pleasure. Being buried in the sand felt awfully nice, especially considering how deep she was buried. Of course, she didn't really get the opportunity to try it back home since the sand there was soaking wet.

"Oddly enough he doesn't seem to want you to do any chores today." noted Oyster. Perhaps he had forgotten about that due to his anger? If so, she might get the opportunity to take a day off…even if she was stuck in sand.

Why was sand so difficult to escape from? It appeared that it was heavier than it looked.

Nowadays, the house was rather clean now that Pearl had done her job well. He was rather impressed with what she had already done so far.

"I know…" nodded Pearl. Maybe today was her day off? She had gotten used to doing chores around the house to be honest…even if she didn't have legs. It was a good thing that Oyster was carrying her around though…it felt awkward crawling across the floor like an itsy bitsy toddler.

You'd think that Lachell Scallop would want a slave with legs rather than one with fins. But apparently he was a sucker for mermaids.

Was she really rather attractive? She was under the impression that she was a rather typical mermaid…but maybe she thought wrong.

Shrugging, Oyster began to make a sand castle of his own. Hopefully that would be rather fun…even if Pearl couldn't join in due to her current predicament.

Why did his father have to be so cruel towards poor Pearl? Granted, he thought that she was stealing his bed, but still! He wished that he would treat her nicer.

"You're making a sand castle just like your dad, huh? Like father, like son, I suppose." noted Pearl.

On the other hand, he wasn't planning on burying anyone else in it.

Oddly enough, Oyster seemed a lot nicer than his father was…though he wasn't quite sure why.

Maybe he inherited his personality from his mother? That would make sense.

"It's a good thing he didn't bury you close to the tide, otherwise you could drown!" noted Oyster.

"I'm a mermaid…it's physically impossible for me to drown." pointed out Pearl. She did live a life under the sea until the marines decided to sell her as a slave, after all.

They must be drowning in money at this point. Stupid marines.

"Oh, right…" remembered the boy.

Apparently, Oyster's father was smart enough not to bury her close to the ocean where she could potentially make a getaway and make her sand castle prison crumble.

"When do you think your father will wake up?" asked Pearl.

"He's a rather heavy sleeper…" explained Oyster.

"I guess I'll just relax in my sand castle then…" answered the mermaid.

Immediately, Oyster began to think of a thing that he and Pearl could do without using her arms.

"Let's play Frisbee!" exclaimed the boy.

"Um…sure." nodded Pearl.

Immediately, Oyster threw the Frisbee and Pearl caught it in her mouth.

"Good…girl?" asked the boy.

"I'm not a dog…but thank you." answered the teenage mermaid.

Pearl spat the Frisbee out a few minutes later.

"Wasn't that fun?" inquired Oyster.

"I suppose…though it feels funny acting like a canine." noted Pearl. Back home, they didn't have dogs…but they did have dolphins.

"Are you part dogfish?" asked the boy.

"Why would you say th-oh, very funny." answered the mermaid.

"Well, you are a mermaid." pointed out Oyster.

"Yeah, that's true." nodded Pearl. Judging from the scales of her fins, she was part bluefish…or some other kind of fish that was blue.

"Anything else you want to do?" inquired the boy. He was starting to feel rather excited.

"I'm not sure…" answered the mermaid.

"Maybe we can play volleyball!" exclaimed Oyster.

"But we don't have a net…" pointed out Pearl.

Immediately, Oyster went to go get a net.

He came back a few minutes later.

"What about the volleyball?" inquired Pearl.

"D'oh!" bellowed Oyster. How could he have forgotten that?

Immediately, he went to get a volleyball as well.

"This crown makes me feel like a princess…" thought the mermaid.

Oddly enough, it seemed rather fitting that she was buried in a sand castle considering the fact that the mermaids were ruled by a monarchy.

It was a real pity that Queen Otohime had kicked the bucket…things would probably be better at the mermaid kingdom if she was still alive.

But there was no use crying over spilled milk.

Immediately, Oyster tossed the volley ball over the net and Pearl hit the volley ball with her head.

Apparently, she had a rather hard noggin, because it immediately went over the net and away from Oyster's reach.

"Wow…" thought the boy.

Personally, he wondered if he should try freeing Pearl from her sandy prison. Granted, she seemed to be enjoying herself, but still.

He always liked doing her favors since she did him and his dad so much…though admittedly she didn't have exactly a say so in the matter. He didn't want her to suffer the Feather Of Retribution again…though admittedly it didn't harm her too much.

Immediately, he went to go get a shovel so that he could let Pearl out of her predicament. Oddly enough, she seemed rather surprised at the occurrence.

"Hmm?" asked Pearl.

"I'm going to get you out of here!" exclaimed Oyster.

"No, really, it's fi-"

Immediately, Oyster began to dig…

…only to find himself buried up to his waist along with Pearl.

"Whoops." said the boy.

Pearl shrugged. She had a feeling this was going to happen…but she wasn't quite sure what to say on the subject.

"Well, you managed to free my arms…but now you're stuck too." acknowledged the mermaid.

"Not again!" bellowed Oyster. Why did he make the same mistake twice? He really needed to be more careful.

"Well, thanks for trying." answered Pearl, giving Oyster a pat on the back.

"What should we do now? I can't move my legs!" exclaimed the boy.

"That is a problem…" nodded the mermaid. How were they going to get out of this mess now?

Hopefully, Oyster's father was going to rescue them soon, much like he had done earlier. He seemed rather surprised that Oyster had ended up in the same situation Pearl was in, to say the very least.

Shrugging, Pearl handed the crown on her head to Oyster.

"You're making me your king? I feel honored!" bellowed Oyster.

"Yeah." nodded Pearl.

Curious, they began to look at the sunset.

"I sure have been buried in the sand for a while…" noted the mermaid. She had lost track of time, it seemed.

Fortunately, she was not getting itchy.

"At least we've got a nice view here!" exclaimed Oyster.

"But you're right in front of me…" pointed out Pearl.

Oyster began to blush.

"Well, I'm right in front of you two. I'm starting to feel a sense of déjà vu…" spoke Pearl.

"First the bedsheet incident, and now this!" exclaimed the boy.

"I know…" nodded the mermaid. They had gotten stuck together once again.

"I'm still not sure what to do…" said Oyster.

"Do you want to tickle each other?" asked Pearl. She seemed to recall the two of them both being ticklish.

"Um…sure." nodded the boy.

Immediately, Oyster began to tickle Pearl, causing her to laugh.

She then responded by tickling Oyster…

…only to hear a growling noise.

"Oh…it looks like your father's back from his nap." spoke Pearl.

Immediately, Lachell hurled a pie in Pearl's face for tickling his son.

"You deserve it, you fiend!" bellowed the man. Pearl really had it coming, he thought.

"Cherry is my favorite flavor…what a coincidence." stated the mermaid, licking the pie off of her face.

Lachell then began to dig out both Oyster and Pearl, wondering how the former ended up in the same mess as Pearl was. Did the sand castle suddenly collapse?

"What's gotten into you two…" he thought.

Immediately, Pearl went to the bathroom so that she could wash off her face. Granted, the pie was delicious, but her face was still messy nonetheless.

Suddenly, she noticed Oyster's bathtub, and wondered if she could go for a swim in there. She was still covered in sand after Lachell had buried her in a sand castle after all.

"Hopefully my slavemaster won't mind…" thought the mermaid.

Immediately, she began to turn the faucets until the water was just the right temperature.

"Here I go!" exclaimed Pearl, jumping right in.

She had to admit, the bathtub was surprisingly big.

"I wonder if he has a swimming pool…" thought Pearl.

Of course, Oyster's father would probably be mad if she tried using it. He would probably save it for himself and him alone.

"This water feels awfully nice…" thought Pearl.

"Cannonball!" exclaimed a voice.

"Huh?" asked the mermaid.

Immediately, there was a splash in the water.

As it turned out, it was none other than Oyster…who oddly enough was wearing swim trunks and a rubber ducky tube.

"Hey there, Oyster. Are you taking a bath? If you want I can leave so you can have some privacy…" said Pearl.

"I dress like this whenever I take a bath…" answered Oyster.

"Alright then…is the tube so that you don't drown yourself?" asked the mermaid.

"Yes…you must be lucky considering that it's physically impossible for you to drown…" noted the boy.

"I wouldn't really consider myself lucky considering that I'm a slave…but that's definitely a perk." answered Pearl. She never needed to hold her breath in.

"Oh…right." nodded Oyster. Personally he wondered if he should ask his father to let Pearl go. Granted, she didn't really seem to mind being a slave nowadays…but he was still feeling rather concerned about her wellbeing.

Immediately, Pearl began to put shampoo in her hair.

"Can I have some too?" inquired Oyster.

Pearl nodded.

For some strange reason, Pearl liked the way Oyster looked without his shirt on…was she starting to feel attracted to him?

Personally she thought she would end up being attracted to a merman…but everyone had their own tastes, and she wanted to be her own person.

Immediately, she began to pour shampoo on Oyster's hair.

He then began to splash her.

"Isn't this fun?" asked Oyster.

"It sure is." nodded Pearl. She wasn't expecting Oyster to go for a swim with her…but it was a rather pleasant surprise, to say the very least.

Now that she thought of it…she had been hanging out with him a long time today. She was starting to feel a bit sleepy.

Immediately, she began to splash him back. It was surprisingly fun.

They kept at it for a while, but eventually they noticed that the floor was covered with water.

"Should we get a mop?" asked Oyster.

"I think we should get a towel…where did you put them?" questioned Pearl.

Fortunately, there was a towel nearby that they could use, since this was the restroom and all.

"Oh, that's right." said the mermaid. Of course there would be towels in the restroom. Her logic stretched that far.

Immediately, Pearl began to wipe away the water so that Lachell would not notice what was going on. He wouldn't be happy if they made a mess on the floor.

"There we go." said the mermaid.

"Want a bath toy?" asked Oyster.

"Um…sure." nodded Pearl.

Curious, Lachell began to hear noises coming from the bathroom.

"Those two sure seem to be having fun…" thought the man.

Shrugging, he decided to head back to bed. He was feeling awfully sleepy nowadays.

_Well, do you think I should continue this fanfic? I just decided that it would be fun to continue writing for that's all…I do wish that I would receive a bit more attention though. Maybe I should give this fanfic a different title? Something more unique?_

_Ah well._

_See you later!_


	6. Chapter 6: Escape Attempt

Enslaved

_In this chapter, Pearl's going to try to escape again…not that she really minds being a slave anymore, mind you…she's just worried about her friends._

_How is it going to turn out? Well, let's wait and see…_

**Chapter 6: Escape Attempt**

Once again, Pearl was sleeping in Oyster's bed…this time, he had left a sticky note on the mattress so that Lachell would know that she had gotten his son's permission.

At that very moment, he entered the room once again.

Immediately, he sighed. At this point, he was more annoyed than he was frustrated.

"How many times are you going to do this?" questioned Lachell.

Pearl pointed to the sticky note that was attached to the bed.

Unfortunately, Oyster's plan had a flaw…he wasn't that good at writing.

"What does this say?" questioned Lachell, unable to make heads or tails out of it.

"Now then, where was I? Ah yes."

Immediately, Lachell trapped Pearl underneath the mattress.

"Oof!" exclaimed Pearl. The mattress had fallen right on her lower torso and onto her gut…though thankfully it didn't hurt. It was a mattress after all…and an awfully soft one at that.

"Time for me to go to work…" said the young man.

"Well, at least I can move my arms this time…" noted the mermaid. Before her arms had been pinned to her sides.

"Are you doing OK?" inquired Oyster.

"Yeah…this mattress feels awfully nice…almost as good as the blanket in fact." nodded Pearl.

"Should I help you? Or are you worried that we'll get stuck together again?" questioned the boy.

"Do you think it's worth the risk?" asked the mermaid.

"Uh-huh!" exclaimed Oyster.

Immediately, Oyster attempted to lift the mattress off Pearl.

For a moment, it appeared that he was actually going to succeed this time.

But eventually, he messed up and the mattress fell right on top of him as well.

"Darn it!" bellowed Oyster.

"Yeah…I thought this was going to happen." noted Pearl.

"What do you want to do now?" inquired Oyster.

"Maybe talk about ourselves?" questioned the mermaid.

"Alright…so what's your family like?" asked Oyster.

"Well, I happen to be an only child." answered Pearl.

"Really? So am I!" exclaimed the boy.

"I already know why…" noted the mermaid.

"Yeah…" nodded Oyster, feeling upset all of a sudden.

"Anything else you want to know about my parents?" asked Pearl.

"What is your father like?" inquired Oyster.

"Well, he told me about the dangers of humans and how they like to sell mermaids at the human auction house…" explained the mermaid.

"Oh…" said Oyster.

"Don't get me wrong…I don't think all humans are like that…I do think some of them are like that though." answered Pearl.

"Yeah…" nodded the boy.

"My mother told me that I could friends in lots of different places…I'd have to say that she's right." noted the mermaid.

"Uh-huh!" exclaimed Oyster.

"Hopefully they aren't too worried about me…" spoke Pearl.

"Yeah…" nodded the boy.

Personally Pearl wasn't sure how long she had been a slave. Her estimate was a few days…but it was possible that she had lost track of time.

Where was the calendar?

"What are your friends like?" inquired Oyster.

"Well, most of them happen to be girls…much like myself." answered Pearl.

"Oh really?" inquired Oyster.

"Yeah…" nodded Pearl. Having Oyster as a friend was a bit new to her…but she appreciated his company. After all, he was her only friend that was a human.

"What do you do with your friends?" asked the teenage boy who had the voice of a small child.

"Well, we like to play Spin The Bottle…" answered Pearl.

"Spin the Bottle?" inquired Oyster.

"Yeah…I managed to find a bottle that some bozo left in the ocean one day…apparently it didn't occur to him that polluting the ocean was a bad idea." noted the mermaid.

"Shame on him!" exclaimed the boy.

"Yeah…on the plus side, we were able to use it to play Truth Or Dare…" continued Pearl.

"Didn't you say something about kissing another mermaid?" questioned Oyster.

"Yep…that was one of the dares. It was a rather…interesting experience." noted the mermaid.

"I bet it was…" nodded the boy.

"Have you kissed another boy?" inquired Pearl.

"No, I haven't." answered Oyster.

"Alright then…" stated the mermaid.

"Were there any other crazy dares your friends made you do?" inquired the boy.

"You mean aside from the dare that got me enslaved?" questioned Pearl.

"Er, yeah…" nodded the boy.

"Well, one time they made me wear a suit…" answered the mermaid.

"A tie?" inquired Oyster.

"Yeah…a suit." nodded Pearl.

"Wouldn't that make you look masculine?" questioned the boy.

"Well, I am wearing a belt now." noted the mermaid.

"Oh, right…your slave belt…" acknowledged Oyster.

"You'd think that your dad would want to make me look more feminine…" questioned Pearl.

Oyster shrugged.

"You think he'll be back soon?" inquired Pearl.

"Probably…he's been fired from seven different jobs." questioned the boy.

"Why doesn't that surprise me…" answered the mermaid. He wasn't exactly the most likable man in the world. But at least he loved his son.

"I wonder why he keeps getting fired…" said the boy. He was under the impression that his father wou

"_Are you feeling OK?" asked one of Lachell's employees._

_As it turned out, Lachell had arrived at his worksite…intoxicated._

"_How I love you!" bellowed the young man._

"_Help!" exclaimed the employer as Lachell hugged him._

_A few weeks later…_

"_Where is Lachell?" inquired one of the employers._

"_Yeah…I could have sworn he would be here today." answered another employer._

_As it turned out, Lachell had fallen asleep in a roadside ditch on the way to work._

_A few more weeks later…_

"_What a wonderful day! Nothing can possibly go wrong!" exclaimed Lachell's boss._

_Suddenly, Lachell crashed his car into his boss's office._

"_What a joyride!" bellowed Lachell._

"Hmm…I'm actually starting to see why now." noted Oyster.

"Something tells me he isn't the best employee in the world." acknowledged Pearl.

"No wonder he keeps changing jobs!" exclaimed her slavemaster's son.

"Yeah…no wonder." nodded the mermaid.

She was starting to see why Lachell wanted a slave, other than the fact that he thought that mermaids were attractive. He was rather…lazy.

Suddenly, Lachell entered the room.

"You got yourself stuck with Pearl again? I hope you enjoy her company…" questioned the man.

"I sure do!" exclaimed Oyster.

"Ditto!" bellowed Pearl.

Shrugging, Lachell lifted the mattress off of the duo.

"Your dad is awfully strong." noted the mermaid.

"He sure is!" nodded Oyster.

Oddly enough, Oyster did not seem to have inherited that kind of strength, though he did loosely resemble his father.

"Well, you two have fun. I'm going to bed." said Lachell.

Sure enough, it was almost night time.

_A few hours later…_

After making sure that Oyster was asleep, Pearl decided it was time to get out of here.

Granted, she didn't think being a slave was all that bad considering who she got to meet…but she figured that her friends and family were missing her.

In fact, her friends were probably feeling guilty about getting her into this mess.

As such, she decided it was time to make a clean getaway.

If she just removed the GPS Belt, she might have a ticket out of there.

All she needed to do was find the key.

And she knew exactly where she needed to look.

Carefully, she opened the door to Lachell's bedroom without making too much noise.

However, she didn't find what she was looking for…at least not yet.

Fortunately, since she was crawling on the floor, she wasn't making too much noise. However, she still needed to be cautious.

If she woke Lachell up, he wouldn't be too happy with her…and would probably use the Feather Of Retribution.

Granted, she thought that the Feather of Retribution was probably fun…but Oyster disagreed with her.

He in fact asked her to behave so that he wouldn't use it on her.

"Now that I think of it…didn't I notice the ocean on my way to the house?" thought Pearl.

She in fact had forgotten about it until Oyster had reminded her on their first trip. Sometimes things slipped her mind.

However, she still had no idea where the key was.

Curious, she noticed a picture of Lachell and his family, included his departed wife.

She felt rather upset all of a sudden.

"Hmm…I wonder." thought Pearl. Perhaps Lachell had gotten a slave to help fill the hole that he was missing in life?

Curious, she noticed that there were two pillows on the bed. Apparently, he had shared the bed with his wife prior to her unfortunate demise.

On a hunch, she decided to check underneath the pillow to see if the key was there.

Sure enough, it was.

Immediately, she picked up the key with her mouth and began to crawl her way out of the bedroom.

Now all that was left was to use the key to unlock her GPS belt and then she would be home free.

Still, she was going to miss Oyster…life wouldn't be the same without him.

However, speaking of Oyster…

"Hey Pearl! What are you doing up so late?" inquired Oyster.

As it turned out, he had gotten out of bed so that he could get a glass of water.

"Um, about that…" said Pearl.

Suddenly, Oyster noticed the key in her mouth.

"What's that?" inquired the boy.

"Nothing! Nothing!" exclaimed Pearl.

"Alright then." said Oyster, taking the key from Pearl's mouth.

"Hmm?" thought the mermaid.

"Hmm…seeing that key in your mouth makes me wonder what it tastes like." questioned Oyster.

Before Pearl could react, Oyster swallowed the key in one gulp.

"Hmm…tastes like roast beef." noted the boy.

Pearl gasped in shock.

"Is something the matter?" inquired Oyster.

"I was going to use that key to unlock my GPS belt…" answered Pearl.

"Whoops!" exclaimed the boy.

"Now I'm never going to get out of here…" noted the mermaid.

"I'm sorry! You said that it was nothing so I figured I might as well eat it…" answered Oyster.

"How many things do you eat, anyway?" questioned Pearl.

"Lots of things…" stated the boy.

"I can see that." nodded the mermaid.

"If it makes you feel any better, my dad got me a GPS bracelet!" exclaimed Oyster.

Immediately, Oyster pointed out the bracelet on his wrist.

"Your father's enslaving his own son?!" bellowed Pearl.

"Shhh! Keep it down! My dad is sleeping!" pointed out Oyster.

"Oh, right…sorry." apologized the mermaid. Wouldn't want to wake him up. That would get her in trouble.

"Just for the record, he's not enslaving me. He just thought it would be a good idea to keep tabs on me, that's all." answered the boy.

"Oh…that makes sense." nodded Pearl. He did seem to get into a lot of trouble before she came along.

"And look…we can see each other on the radar!" exclaimed Oyster.

"Huh?" inquired the mermaid.

Curious, Pearl looked down, and noticed that she was on the radar on the GPS belt as well as Oyster.

Apparently, she was the blue dot while Oyster was the red dot.

"Cool, huh!" exclaimed Oyster.

"Yeah…" nodded Pearl.

"Here's an idea! Why don't we share the bed together!" bellowed the boy.

"Wait, what?" inquired the mermaid.

"It's perfect! That way my dad won't think that you stole the bed from me!" exclaimed Oyster.

"Well, I suppose that makes sense." answered Pearl.

"It'll be fun!" exclaimed Oyster.

"If you say so…" said the mermaid.

Shrugging, she decided that maybe she could give it a try. After all, Oyster had been everything but cruel to her during her stay at his father's house.

Still, it felt rather…odd.

Immediately, Oyster tucked both himself and Pearl into the bed. At least the blanket felt nice.

"Maybe I could get used to this." thought the mermaid.

_In Lachell's room…_

For some strange reason, Lachell couldn't help but shake the feeling that something was wrong. Something just didn't seem quite right.

On a hunch, he decided to check underneath his late wife's pillow to see if there was a key underneath.

As it turned out, there was not.

"Oh no! My slave must be trying to escape again! And this time she decided to unlock the GPS belt!" thought Lachell.

This wasn't good…for him at least.

Quickly, he checked his son's room to see if the worst had really happened.

However, much to his surprise, he found that Pearl was still there.

"Huh. Maybe I'm just losing my marbles." questioned Lachell.

Granted, he still had no idea where the key went…but maybe he could just get another one later.

Suddenly, he noticed something that surprised him.

"What the-my son is sleeping in the same bed as my slave?" inquired Lachell.

Personally, he found that to be rather surprising.

But at least his slave wasn't stealing the bed from his son this time.

"I guess I'll just go back to bed now." said Lachell.

Hopefully Pearl would be a good girl this time.

_Oh dear! It looks like Oyster has inadvertently foiled Pearl's escape attempt. Isn't that just dandy. But it's not so bad._

_In the next chapter, we're going to see the Feather Of Retribution used again…this time both Oyster and Pearl are going to experience it…_

_Were you looking forward to that? Then again, maybe not._

_See you later!_


	7. Chapter 7: Calling For Help

Enslaved

_In this chapter, Pearl's going to try to call for help from her friends…as the chapter title implies. How is that going to turn out?_

_And yes, Pearl and Oyster are going to interact once again…you like it when they do that, right?_

_It's time for this latest chapter of this fanfic…how long do you think it should be, anyway?_

**Chapter 7: Calling For Help**

Pearl woke up with her nap at a leisurely pace. She had to admit, it felt rather interesting sleeping in the same bed with Oyster…but it was an innocent cohabitation. They weren't in a romantic relationship.

Sure enough, Oyster woke up as well.

Oddly enough, Lachell Scallop was not there to greet them and give Pearl her chores.

Instead, he was making a phone call.

"Who is he calling?" inquired Pearl.

"He's calling the pizza man so that we can get pizza! It makes me feel so excited…" noted Oyster.

"Is it good pizza?" asked the mermaid.

"Yes! It's from Pizza Shack!" exclaimed the teenage boy.

"Don't you mean Pizza Hut?" questioned Pearl.

"We can't say that without being sued for copyright infringement…" pointed out Oyster.

"OK…" answered the mermaid. That was kind of…weird.

Sure enough, Lachell was ordering a cheese pizza for him and his son.

"You think he'll let me have some of the pizza too?" inquired Pearl.

"Dad, can Pearl have some of the pizza?" questioned Oyster.

Lachell was in fact hoping to eat most of the pizza himself…but he nodded. His slave wouldn't be of much use to him if he went hungry…though at the same time he wanted to keep his slave skinny.

According to the pizza delivery company, the pizza would be there in about thirty minutes.

Personally, Oyster wondered what he could do until then.

Suddenly, he got an idea…he was going to jump on his father's bed and have some fun.

Now seemed like a good opportunity…as Lachell had decided to wait outside his house so that he would know exactly when the pizza man arrived.

He was a bit impatient that way.

Immediately, he went into his father's room and began to jump on the mattress.

However, he was noticed by Pearl.

"What are you doing?" inquired Pearl.

"I'm jumping on my dad's bed!" exclaimed Oyster.

"I don't think your father will be too happy with you…" noted the mermaid.

"Maybe…but it's so fun! Do you want to join me?" questioned the boy.

"Well, I suppose I could give it a shot." answered Pearl, climbing onto the bed with him.

However, she wasn't able to jump quite as high since she didn't have legs.

Still, she was enjoying herself.

"You're right…this is kind of fun." noted Pearl. Still, she was a bit worried that one of them was going to bump their head on the ceiling, or fall off the bed.

Was this safe?

Hopefully they knew a good doctor.

"Look at me go!" exclaimed Oyster.

"Wait, won't this wreck your dad's bed?" inquired Pearl.

"Huh? Oh, that's right…I didn't think of things that way." answered the teenage boy.

At that very moment, they heard Lachell growling.

"Uh-oh." thought Pearl.

Apparently, he had heard the commotion and decided to take action against the duo. Immediately, he pulled out the Feather of Retribution.

Realizing what was going to happen, Pearl and Oyster began to hold each other's hands.

Shortly afterwards, they began to laugh hysterically.

"This'll teach you to use my bed as a trampoline!" exclaimed Lachell.

"If you, hahaha, got us, hahaha, a trampoline, hahaha, maybe this wouldn't happen!" bellowed Oyster.

"Yeah…probably not." noted Pearl.

Now that Lachell thought of it…that actually didn't seem like such a good idea. He did seem to be packing some weight.

After a few minutes, Lachell put the Feather of Retribution away. Now Pearl and Oyster wouldn't have to suffer.

"I'm not doing that again!" exclaimed Oyster.

"Me neither." answered Pearl. It just wasn't fun…even if part of her enjoyed being tickled.

"Is the pizza here?" questioned the teenage boy.

Curious, they looked outside, and noticed that there was a pizza van approaching.

"Yes!" exclaimed Oyster.

"Can I ask you why your house is located so close to a beach? I had a bit of trouble driving here…" questioned the pizza delivery guy.

"Yeah…I would imagine that's a problem." nodded Pearl.

"Wait, you're a mermaid?" inquired the pizzaman.

"Is that a problem?" asked the mermaid.

"No reason…I'm just a bit surprised to see a mermaid out of land that's all…I don't exactly get many of them as customers." pointed out the pizza deliverer.

"I would imagine that." nodded Pearl. Maybe he should put on some scuba gear?

Immediately, Lachell paid for the pizza so that they could dig in. Om nom nom nom.

"This pizza is perfect!" exclaimed Oyster.

"I'm glad to see that you enjoy it." noted Pearl. Personally she was enjoying it herself, though she was getting some of it on her face.

Fortunately, there were napkins that came with the pizza.

Afterwards, Pearl began to clean up the table like Lachell had ordered her too. Specifically, she pulled out a rag and made sure that the table was clean.

She succeeded in her task. In fact, it began to sparkle.

"Wow! That's really impressive!" exclaimed Oyster.

"Why exactly is the table sparkling?" questioned Lachell. It was rather…strange.

"It is blinding me a bit…" noted Pearl. Perhaps she should put on some sunglasses…though they did seem to be rather impractical indoors.

Miraculously, the pizza that Pearl and her family ate back home never got soggy. She personally wondered why, though she wasn't complaining about it.

Personally her favorite flavor happened to be seaweed…though she did love cheese pizza almost as much as Oyster did.

After they were finished eating, the three of them put their plates away. When was the last time Lachell had used the dishwasher? And couldn't he use that instead of making her wash the dishes?

Pearl in fact wanted to know already. At this rate they were going to run out of clean dishes. She was starting to wonder how her slavedriver had ever lived without her. Did he always hire a maid or something? She supposed that would get expensive after a while…

Suddenly, she remembered the phone that Lachell had used earlier, and wondered if she could try calling her friends. She in fact knew each and every one of their phone numbers, so it seemed like a good idea.

They would probably want to know what had happened to her…and if there was anything that they could to help.

She just had to worry about Lachell.

Fortunately, he was not in the room at the moment, so maybe he wouldn't notice.

Immediately, she began to dial the phone numbers of all her friends.

"Hello?" inquired one of Pearl's mermaid friends.

"Hello! Did you miss me, Goldy?" asked Pearl.

Fittingly, Goldy's tail resembled that of a goldfish. She also had orange hair.

"Oh my gosh! You're alright! I feel so relieved!" exclaimed Goldy.

"Yeah…I got enslaved though." answered the blonde.

"What? You did?" inquired Pearl's Goldy.

"Yes, I did." stated Pearl.

"That's terrible!" exclaimed the fellow teenage girl. Apparently, the rumors that she had heard about a Human Auction House were true.

How many beris did people make off of mermaids, anyway? Whoever started that business must be rolling in the dough.

"Well, I did manage to make a friend…" answered the blonde.

"Don't worry! I'll get my friends and come rescue you!" exclaimed Goldy.

Immediately, Pearl told her where she was being held so that they could come looking for her…if they weren't doing so already.

Was she finally going to be rescued? Granted, she would miss Oyster…but she was under the impression that he would like it if she were set free.

Quickly, she hung up the phone afterwards.

Suddenly, she heard Lachell growling again. Apparently, he had realized what she had been doing.

"Hey there, Lachell…I've been a bad girl, haven't I?" inquired Pearl.

"Darn right you have!" exclaimed the man.

"What do you have in mind this time?" asked the mermaid.

"This time I'll let you decide…I'm not feeling very creative today." answered Lachell.

"Can you let me off scotfree?" inquired Pearl.

"Don't make me laugh." answered the man.

"Eh, I'm just joking." stated the mermaid. She could not escape the wrath of karma.

"Anything else?" inquired Lachell.

Suddenly, she noticed a book Lachell was reading about the Egyptians.

She got an idea.

"I know! Why don't you wrap me up in toilet paper from my chest to my fins and then stick me in a sarchophagus?" suggested Pearl.

"Perfect! But shouldn't I wrap your whole body?" inquired Lachell.

"I don't want you to have to use that much toilet paper…in case you haven't noticed, I am awfully tall…" answered the mermaid.

"Good point." nodded the man. He was going to need the john later.

As it turned out, Lachell had a sarchophagus for that purpose…Pearl wasn't sure what it was doing in her slavedriver's house but she wasn't going to question it.

Immediately, Lachell began to wrap up Pearl using toilet paper.

"You're not going to pull out my brain through my nose, are you?" inquired Pearl.

"That's disgusting!" exclaimed Lachell.

"Thought so." answered the mermaid.

Immediately, Lachell put Pearl in a sarchophagus and began to wrap her up.

Oddly enough, Pearl seemed to enjoy it. Apparently, the sarcophagus and the wrappings were comfortable.

However, he stuck Oyster in the sarcophagus shortly afterwards.

"You need to hide, Oyster! It's dangerous outside!" warned Lachell.

"Hi, Pearl!" exclaimed Oyster.

"Hi, Oyster…er, why did your dad put you in here?" inquired Pearl.

"He wanted me to hide while he went to deal with the reinforcements you sent…" explained the boy.

"That makes sense." nodded the mermaid. Personally she didn't think her friends were very dangerous…but she was a bit worried that they might resort to something drastic. Just how long had she been away from home, anyway?

Her new home was a nice place to live, to be honest.

Immediately, Lachell closed the sarcophagus so that they could hide them both…though in retrospect maybe he should have chosen two different hiding spots.

But he was lazy like that.

"What happened to you? Did you get beat up and have to cover yourself in bandages?" inquired Oyster.

"No, I'm fine. Your father just decided to wrap me up like this. But the toilet paper feels pretty good…" noted Pearl.

Fortunately, they were able to breathe inside the sarcophagus, as there were a few small holes inside. It appeared that Lachell didn't want them to suffocate.

"It's kind of dark in here…" noted Oyster.

"Well, it is a sarcophagus." answered Pearl.

"I'm feeling a little scared…" said the teenage boy.

"Yeah…being trapped in the dark can make people feel that way. Maybe you should try closing your eyes…" suggested Pearl.

Immediately, Oyster began to close his eyes.

"Is that better?" inquired the teenage girl.

Oyster nodded.

"Guess what, Oyster…I'm a mummy now!" exclaimed Pearl.

"A mummy? Aren't you a bit lively to be that?" inquired Oyster.

"Well, yeah. I'm still alive and kicking…well, minus the kicking part." answered Pearl. Sometimes she wondered what it was like to have feet.

But she liked herself just the way she was.

"Wait…there wouldn't happen to be any scarab beetles in here, now would there?" asked the teenage boy.

"I don't think so…and besides, scarab beetles don't eat people for lunch…" answered Pearl.

"Really?" inquired Oyster.

"Yeah…they happen to be scavengers, not carnivores." pointed out the mermaid.

"Maybe I've been watching too many movies…" questioned the teenage boy. Still, he didn't think he would like being locked in a tomb with about a hundred of them.

Meanwhile, Lachell Scallop was standing outside the house, waiting to see if anyone showed up. For all he knew Pearl had called the military. Not only that, but they probably had tanks.

What were the merpeople military like, anyway? He hadn't really gotten to see them in action. Just how competent were they?

Sure enough, several mermaids arrived…though they seemed to have difficulty reaching his house. Much like Pearl, they did not have legs.

Lachell decided if he had to go down, he would go down fighting. His wife and his son would be proud of him that way.

Maybe he would even have some scars to show for it if he survived, and his son would be impressed.

"Bring it on!" exclaimed Lachell, taking off his shirt and pants and leaving him in his boxer shorts. He was ready to rumble.

However, the mermaids' reaction was not what he was expecting.

As soon as the mermaids saw Lachell in his boxers, they immediately screamed in horror and began to crawl away. They had never seen a more horrific sight.

Personally, Lachell began to wonder what had happened. If he looked in a mirror…he would probably find out.

It was a shame really…he was expecting more of a challenge. Perhaps Pearl had not called for as much help as he had thought.

But at least he wouldn't have to worry about his slave being taken away from him…or his son being in danger.

Immediately, he went to open the sarcophagus, which had been bolted in seven different places.

But in the process, he forgot to put his clothes on, much to his son's terror.

"Aah!" screamed Oyster, his face turning white as a sheet.

Frantically, he began to cover his eyes. Was he going to go blind from this? At least he didn't end up being turned into stone.

Oddly enough, Pearl wasn't too phased. Perhaps she didn't get scared too easily.

"Why are you in your underwear? Did you decide that since I was in a swimsuit you would join the club?" inquired Pearl, raising an eyebrow.

Lachell facepalmed. He had forgotten to put his clothes back on! Why was that so hard to remember?

Immediately, he went back outside so that he wouldn't get arrested later. Those authorities were really laying down the law these days.

Fortunately for him, it appeared that many of those laws didn't apply to mermaids, so he could keep Pearl as a slave.

As Lachell left so that he wouldn't continue to traumatize his son, Oyster took Pearl out of the sarcophagus and began to unwrap her.

"Huh. You actually managed to save me this time. I salute you." said the mermaid as she pulled some toilet paper out of her hair.

Pearl saluted Oyster with respect.

"Yes!" exclaimed Oyster. Finally he got to be a hero!

"Maybe one day I'll be able to save you…" noted Pearl.

"Maybe…" thought the teenage boy. That would be a rather interesting thought.

Immediately, Pearl went back into the sarcophagus.

"Why are you going back in there?" inquired Oyster.

"It's pretty comfortable…no wonder a mummy would want to be in there for thousands of years or so…" questioned Pearl.

Immediately, Pearl went to sleep, letting out a slight snore as she did so.

Shrugging, Oyster decided to close the sarcophagus so that Pearl would have an easier time taking a nap.

Of course, he also made sure that the sarcophagus was unlocked so that she could get out. He wouldn't want to have her banging on it later.

Speaking of which, he decided to take a nap too.

"What a nice day…" thought Oyster as he went to bed. Finally, he got to be a hero.

_Unfortunately, it appeared that Pearl's friends attempt to rescue her had failed. Maybe they'll try again…maybe they'll not. Regardless, Oyster's father has scared them for life._

_In the next chapter, Pearl's going to try getting help from her parents…would they be more successful than her friends were?_

_Maybe they will be…maybe not._

_I hope you're looking forward to the next chapter!_


	8. Chapter 8: Hanging Out

Enslaved

_In this chapter, Pearl is going to do some chores again…but she's going to forget something important. Whoops! As a result she's going to get in trouble again…but what is it this time?_

_You can probably figure it out by the title…but just for the record, Pearl's going to be alive and well at the end of the chapter, so don't worry about her._

_Let's check it out._

**Chapter 8: Hanging Out**

Pearl decided to call for her parents this time. Maybe they would be more successful in getting her out of this mess.

However, when she went to call them, she found that they were busy. Perhaps they were off looking for her?

She supposed that would make sense considering that she had gone missing. This was probably much more painful for them than it was for her, especially considering that part of her was happy about this.

If she hadn't been enslaved, she probably wouldn't have met Oyster.

On the other hand, he did happen to live near the ocean.

So perhaps she was going to have to try calling them again some other time. Had they decided to call off the search?

Personally she was starting to feel sorry for them.

Well, she might as well work on her chores for now. Her slavemaster wouldn't be happy with her if she decided to slack off.

He would probably use the Feather Of Retribution…though she wasn't nearly as afraid of it as Oyster was, it seemed.

Once again, Pearl had a list of chores to do. This time, she needed to make Oyster's bed, she needed to clean his room, make her slavemaster's bed, cook some chicken on the rotisserie, and last but not least, water the garden.

"I guess I better get started." noted Pearl.

Personally, she wondered how the mermaids could cook things underwater. It was kind of perplexing. On the other hand, they did happen to be vegetarians, so they never ate meat…and thus they did not need to cook it. It could be raw for all they care.

As it turned out, Oyster had beaten her to the punch when it came to making his bed and cleaning his room. Apparently, he decided that he should do those things himself.

"Figures." noted Pearl. He always liked doing Pearl's chores for her, for some strange reason.

However, she needed to make her slavemaster's bed herself.

Fortunately, she was done in a few minutes.

She then proceeded to cook the chicken on the rotisserie, though she was perplexed how to use it at first.

But as it turned out, the rotisserie came with an instruction book detailing what she needed to do.

"I wonder if Oyster's father ever read this." noted Pearl. Some people never read the instructions…and they suffered for it.

Fortunately, she did not burn the chicken, so it looked like Oyster and his father would not have to miss out on dinner tonight.

"It looks like I'm done." said Pearl.

_A few hours later…_

"Great job on doing your chores, Pearl!" exclaimed Oyster.

"Thanks…yet for some strange reason I can't help but shake the feeling that I forgot one…" answered Pearl.

"You did?" asked Oyster.

"Yeah…let's see, I made both you and your father's bed…" noted Pearl.

"Actually, I made my own bed." said Oyster.

"Oh, right…you already cleaned your own room…"

Oyster nodded.

"And I already cooked the chicken."

Oyster nodded once again.

"What am I missing?" asked Pearl.

Oyster shrugged.

At that very moment, Lachell burst into the room. He appeared angry about something.

"Is something the matter?" asked Pearl.

"You forgot to water the plants!" bellowed Lachell.

"Oh, that's right…silly me." answered the mermaid.

"I'm going to make sure that you never forget again!" exclaimed the slavedriver.

"And how are you going to do that?" asked Pearl.

Immediately, Lachell picked up Pearl and took her outside.

"Are you going to bury me in a sand castle again?" inquired the mermaid.

"I've got something different planned this time…" answered Lachell.

Immediately, he pulled out a ladder and used it to climb up the tallest tree in his garden.

He then tied Pearl to one of the branches before climbing back down on the grass.

"This ought to help me remember." noted Pearl, looking at the yard, which seemed so much smaller of a sudden.

"If you don't, I can always bury you in my backyard!" exclaimed Lachell.

Immediately, he pointed to his trusty shovel, which he apparently used for gardening. Personally Pearl was a bit surprised that he was into that sort of thing. It seemed to be rather hard work despite his laziness.

Perhaps this was part of the reason he wanted a slave.

"Wouldn't that be an interesting experience…" acknowledged the mermaid. Maybe she would be visited by some worms? Or some rabbits?

What kind of creatures were in Lachell's backyard anyway? She wasn't quite sure.

Immediately, Lachell went back into his house to watch his favorite show in the world…Robots with State-of-the-Art Weapons of Doom That Destroy Everything in Sight. There was more and more destruction every episode. It was a miracle that they hadn't destroyed the world by now.

Oh wait, that was right. They already had. They were now flying from planet to planet to continue their never-ending war of destruction.

Why did they start fighting each other, anyway? He wasn't sure if the show ever explained that. Maybe he should try rewatching the first episode?

Or maybe he could try showing it to Oyster sometime. On the other hand, he did mention once that he was afraid of evil robots. He was worried that they might break into his house and try to hurt him…as implausible as that sounded.

Oyster went into the backyard a few minutes later. Apparently, he wanted to admire the scenery.

Suddenly, he noticed Pearl hanging from one of the branches.

"Hi, Oyster!" exclaimed Pearl, waving at him from a distance. Oddly enough, Lachell had not bothered tying her hands.

"How'd you get up there?" asked Oyster.

"Your father did this. Said this would make me not forget to water the plants anymore…" noted Pearl.

"I suppose that makes sense." nodded the teenage boy.

Immediately, he went to water the plants so that they wouldn't go thirsty. Maybe if he was lucky he would end up growing a beanstalk.

But maybe he needed some magic beans to do that. Where was a cow that he could sell?

Personally, he wondered how he was going to get her down. She looked awfully high-up. It was making him feel scared just thinking of that.

He didn't want Pearl to end up as a pancake…even if he enjoyed eating pancakes for breakfast. Especially ones with maple syrup.

"Maybe I could cut down the tree?" asked Oyster.

"I doubt your father would be happy with you if he tried that…" answered the mermaid.

"I suppose that's not such a good idea…besides, I'm not sure where my father keeps his axe…" questioned the boy.

Now that he thought of it…wasn't this his father's favorite tree? Perhaps this was why he chose that tree to hang Pearl from.

Personally Oyster wondered how many pieces of paper he could make with it. He in particular wanted to draw pictures of mermaids. But he supposed he should listen to his father's wishes.

"Your father has an axe?" inquired Pearl.

"I'm not sure what he uses it for, but yeah." nodded Oyster. Perhaps it had rusted by now...but maybe not.

Pearl shrugged.

Oyster began to think of another idea to get Pearl down.

"I know! I'll use my trampoline!" exclaimed Oyster. Immediately, he began to jump up and down.

"You have a trampoline?" asked Pearl.

"My father got it for me in case I end up bouncing off the walls…" explained the boy.

"I can see why that would be a concern." answered the mermaid. Perhaps his father should not allow him to have sugar, even if sugary foods were delicious.

Immediately, Oyster went into the house to get a trampoline.

He came back a few minutes later, though he did seem to have trouble carrying it.

"I didn't know that this was so heavy…" said Oyster.

"That does look to be a problem…" acknowledged Pearl. Maybe Oyster shouldn't try lifting that by himself.

Fortunately, he was able to get it over to the tree. Now it was time for the next stage of his plan.

"Here I go!" bellowed Oyster, jumping as high as he could.

However, when he ended up using the trampoline, he bumped his head on the tree branch.

"Ow!" exclaimed the unfortunate boy.

"You alright?" asked Pearl.

"I think so…what was your name again?" inquired the teenage boy.

"Pearl…" answered the mermaid.

"Now I remember!" exclaimed Oyster.

"Hmm…" thought the slave. All of a sudden she was feeling a bit worried about Oyster.

"What else can I do? I know! I'll use my jetpack!" exclaimed Oyster.

"You have a jetpack?" asked Pearl. She was surprised that Oyster had such technology, to say the very least.

Had she been a slave so long that she had gone forward in time?

"It's the way of the future!" bellowed the boy.

"If you say so." answered the mermaid. What was the future going to be like, anyway? Were they going to be flying cars that ran on vegetable oil? Personally she wouldn't be too surprised if mermaids drove around in them considering that they were vegetarians.

But perhaps they would be more interested in using submarines instead.

Immediately, Oyster began to fly around with his new jetpack.

Unfortunately, he still had a few bugs to work out.

"Whoa!" exclaimed Oyster.

Fortunately, he was eventually able to land himself…though it took him a few tries.

"I'm dizzy…" murmured the boy.

"So, is that out of the picture then?" asked Pearl.

"I guess so…" answered Oyster, putting the jetpack aside.

Once again, Oyster began to think of an idea.

"I know! I'll use a catapult!" exclaimed Oyster.

"You have a catapult too?" asked Pearl.

"I have a lot of things!" bellowed the boy.

"OK…" answered the mermaid. Personally she wondered where Oyster was getting all those things.

Once again, Oyster went into his house and carried out a catapult. Much like the trampoline, it was rather heavy.

"Ugh…" murmured Oyster.

"Are you sure that you should be using that?" asked Pearl. If something went wrong Oyster could end becoming a twinkle in the sky.

"I'll be fine! I brought a helmet this time!" exclaimed the boy.

"If you say so…" answered the mermaid. Somehow, she wasn't so sure that was going to be enough.

This time, Oyster used a catapult to launch himself towards Pearl…

…but he ended up crashing into the tree instead.

"Oof!" bellowed Oyster, falling to the ground.

"Ouch…" murmured Pearl. That looked like it was going to hurt in the morning…and in the afternoon…and at night.

"I think I might be getting a visit from the tooth fairy tonight…" acknowledged Oyster.

Pearl nodded in agreement. At least he would get something to make up for him injuring himself.

Oyster began to think up another idea to get Pearl down.

"I'll use a cannon!" exclaimed Oyster.

"A cannon?" asked Pearl. Did Oyster think that he was a cannonball? He did seem to like to cannonball whenever he went for a swim.

Once again, Oyster went into his house to get what he needed.

"I'll just need a match to light the fuse…" noted Oyster.

"There are some next to the rotisserie…though I wouldn't mind if you stopped your rescue plans so that you didn't injure yourself…" pointed out Pearl.

"But you're stuck up there!" exclaimed Oyster.

"There's a really nice view…" answered the mermaid. Besides, Lachell would probably let her down eventually.

"Maybe, but still!" bellowed the teenage boy. He wasn't going to give up so easily. It appeared that he was as persistent as Thomas Edison himself…even if his failures probably didn't end up with him being horribly injured.

Oyster lit the fuse, and launched himself out of the cannon.

However, he ended up missing the tree.

"Darn it, I missed! And there was only one match left!" bellowed Oyster.

"At least you didn't hurt yourself this time…" noted Pearl.

"Yeah…" nodded the teenage boy. That was a relief.

Suddenly, he noticed the ladder that his father had used earlier.

"Why didn't I think of that earlier?" asked Oyster.

"Maybe because you bumped your head?" questioned Pearl.

"Maybe…" acknowledged the teenage boy.

Immediately, he climbed the ladder and towards the tree branch that Pearl was on, careful not to fall as he did so.

He then untied Pearl and grabbed onto her arms so that she didn't fall, lifting her onto the tree branch with her.

"You sure like to help me, don't you?" asked Pearl.

"I sure do!" exclaimed Oyster. It appeared that it was his destiny to help others. Was he moonlighting as a comic book superhero? He did like to read the comics…albeit only the ones that he found in the newspaper.

"I suppose we should get down now…" answered the mermaid.

Suddenly, the ladder collapsed.

"Uh-oh…" said Pearl.

"What?" asked Oyster.

Curious, he looked down, and noticed that the ladder had collapsed.

"Darn it! We're stuck up here!" bellowed Oyster.

"If only you had kept your jetpack on…then again, it did appear to be haywire." acknowledged Pearl.

"What do we do now?" asked the boy.

"Wait for your father to rescue us like he always does?" questioned Pearl.

"I suppose." nodded Oyster. Why did the ladder have to collapse just when they were about to climb down?

It was just their luck.

Suddenly, the branch began to collapse.

'This can't be good for anybody…" said Pearl.

Sure enough, the branch collapsed, taking Pearl and Oyster with it.

Immediately, they began to scream.

Fortunately, they did not injure themselves from the fall.

"Huh. I guess the tree branch wasn't as high up as I thought…" questioned Oyster.

"Maybe not…" answered Pearl.

However, as it turned out, Lachell had heard them screaming.

"What's going on here?" asked Lachell.

Suddenly, he noticed the collapsed tree branch.

"Now you kids have done it! You ruined my favorite tree!" exclaimed Lachell.

"Whoops?" answered Pearl.

'That does it! I'm getting the Feather of Retribution!" bellowed Oyster's father.

"Not again!" screamed Oyster.

"Wait, where did I put my Feather of Retribution?" asked Lachell.

Oyster let out a sigh of relief.

"Oh well, I guess I'll just ask that eagle over there to lend me his…" said the man.

Pearl noticed how big that eagle was, and felt a bit worried.

"Um, I don't think that's such a good id-"

"Ouch! Ow! Ooh! Ow! Eek!" bellowed Lachell.

Personally, Pearl wondered if karma had finally caught up with Lachell after all the crazy stuff that he had done to her.

However, Lachell was eventually able to get the feather from the bird…though he would probably need to have a doctor look at his injuries later.

"There we go! Now where were we?" asked Lachell.

"Were we off getting ice cream?" inquired Oyster.

"No, we were not." answered the man.

"Awww!" exclaimed the teenage boy.

Immediately, Lachell began to tickle Oyster and Pearl, causing them both to laugh hysterically.

"I'll teach you to ruin my favorite tree!" exclaimed Lachell.

"At least you can probably grow a new tree from that branch…" pointed out Pearl.

"That takes forever!" pointed out the man.

"True…" answered the mermaid. Then again, considering that she used to live underwater, what exactly did she know about trees?

Lachell continued tickling Pearl and Oyster, up until he decided that he knew their lesson.

"Maybe I'll try to glue it back together or something. I don't know." answered the man.

"Can I eat the paste?" asked Oyster.

"No, you can't. You'll probably end up poisoning yourself." pointed out Lachell as he went into his house.

"Darn it!" bellowed Oyster.

"You and your peculiar eating habits." giggled Pearl.

Together, they followed Lachell inside.

_Pearl and Oyster sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G…well, OK, I don't think that there was any kissing in this chapter. Correct me if I'm wrong._

_Now then, what should I put in the next chapter? I'll see you later._


	9. Chapter 9: A Change In Routine

_In this chapter, there's going to be a change in routine. I like mixing things up a little._

_Also, it's been almost a year since I first made this story. How about that. Of course, this hasn't been the only story I've been working on it, so maybe I just decided to work on something else._

_But now seemed like a good time to come back to this story now that I thought of some new ideas for it. Feel free to leave me suggestions if you're reading this story. I know that I have four followers so far, so I know at least a few people like this story. That's a good thing, right?_

**Chapter 9: A Change In Routine**

Once again, Pearl accepted her chores for today.

However, she discovered that the list was rather...different.

As it turns out, Lachell had given Pearl HIS routine.

"Hmm..." stated Pearl.

Apparently, Lachell waited for Pearl to do something wrong before he punished her. That seemed natural...though it didn't seem like it would take too much to set him off.

But...what if she mixed things up a little?

"Maybe you can punish me...and then I do something wrong..." suggested the mermaid. That didn't seem like such a bad idea considering that she typically didn't mind the punishments too much.

Maybe she just didn't break easily. She was tough like nails...though admittedly she did grow up in a nurturing environment. She was glad that her parents loved her...though she wondered if they would be able to find her whereabouts.

"Huh?" asked Oyster's father.

Curious, he examined the list.

"Oh..." said Lachell. Apparently, he had given Pearl his routine instead of hers. Whoops. Maybe he should keep better track of the lists.

"Alright then."

Immediately, Lachell Scallop tied up Pearl using Oyster's blanket.

"Now are you going to do something wrong?" asked Lachell.

Pearl blew raspberries at Lachell.

"I'll take that as a yes. You're being a bad mermaid!" bellowed the man. When would she ever learn to behave herself?

"I'm the naughtiest fish in all the ocean..." answered Pearl. The fishermen probably wouldn't be interested in getting her on their vessel, that was for sure...though it didn't stop the marines from doing so.

Lachell wondered what he should do about that.

"I thought you were human..." questioned Oyster.

"You think I'm a human being? How sweet..." noted the mermaid.

"Well, technically you're half-human..." acknowledged the boy.

"Yeah..." nodded Pearl.

Curious, Oyster wondered if he should blow raspberries at his father. That sounded like fun.

"I'm going to blow raspberries at my father!" bellowed Oyster.

"You sure that's a good idea?" questioned the mermaid.

Immediately, he left the room.

He came back a few minutes later tied up in a carpet, being carried by his father.

"That'll teach you to blow raspberries at your own dad!" bellowed Lachell. What was his son thinking? Perhaps Pearl was starting to become a bad influence.

He was going to have to do something about that.

Quickly, Lachell tossed his son into the room with Pearl.

He then shut the door shortly afterwards so that he could get back to watching TV.

Sure enough, Pearl noticed what had happened.

"He tied you up too, didn't he?" asked Pearl.

"Yep..." nodded Oyster.

"That didn't work out too well for you, huh?" questioned Pearl.

"I didn't think things through..." answered the boy.

"Sorry to hear that..." sympathized the mermaid.

"At least I get to spend the day with you..." noted Oyster.

"At least until your father unties us, anyway..." answered Pearl.

"Maybe if we tell him that we need to use the restroom, maybe then he'll let us out?" asked the boy.

"He'll probably tie us up again once we're done..." stated the mermaid.

"Oh yeah..." nodded Oyster. His father wasn't stupid...though he wasn't exactly a looker.

"What do we do now? I don't think we can do much...unless you somehow have an elastic tongue..." questioned Pearl.

Oyster tried to stretch out his tongue...but it only went a few inches.

"Yeah...I don't think it's elastic..." noted the mermaid.

Oyster shrugged.

"Then again, my tongue isn't elastic either...though it might be bigger than yours..." acknowledged Pearl.

"Yeah..." nodded Oyster.

"You didn't happen to have tracked mud over that carpet, would you?" inquired the mermaid.

"I don't think I did..." answered the boy.

"Well, that's a relief...I wouldn't want you to get muddy..." noted Pearl. She would start having to call Oyster "The Mudman".

"I guess not..." stated Oyster.

"Have you ever played in the mud?" inquired the mermaid. Oyster wasn't smelly, so she probably already knew the answer. But she decided to ask anyways, just to make sure.

"Well, my father got angry every time I did that...so I don't do it anymore." acknowledged the boy.

"Yeah...I'm with you there..." nodded Pearl. Of course, since she lived underwater up until now, she never seemed to get muddy. As such, she never used to use the bathtub up until now.

Suddenly, Oyster began to roll around using the carpet, bumping into Pearl in the process.

"Oof!" bellowed Pearl.

"Whoops! Sorry!" apologized Oyster.

"It's alright, you're rather soft..." noted the mermaid.

Once again, Oyster began to roll around using the carpet.

Shrugging, Pearl decided to do so also using her blanket.

"Well, this is a bit more convenient than crawling around the house..." acknowledged Pearl. She wondered just how fast she could roll around using it.

Since Oyster decided to carry her around the house, she hadn't thought of doing that before...up until Oyster decided to do it.

"Uh-huh!" exclaimed Oyster. He didn't mind lifting Pearl though.

"Of course, I probably wouldn't trade my fins for a pair of legs...I actually like my fins. I will admit that it's a shame that I can't walk though..." noted the mermaid.

"At least you can stand on your fins..." acknowledged the boy.

"Uh-huh...I hope you don't mind being with a girl that's taller than you..." answered Pearl. Mermaids did seem a bit taller than humans now that she thought of it.

Then again, maybe Oyster was simply a bit short for his age. She found it a bit ironic that she was about as tall as her slavemaster now that she thought of it...though she had decided not to disobey him regardless. Oyster didn't want her to suffer, though she didn't really mind the punishments her slavemaster inflicted nowadays.

He seemed more bark than bite.

"It's alright...I like hugging your stomach..." stated Oyster.

"Well, I'm always baring my midriff these days...though technically I'm not doing it right now..." noted the mermaid.

"Well, yeah..." nodded the boy. Her blanket loosely resembled a strapless dress...a strapless dress that she couldn't move her arms in...

"I'm a bit surprised how comfortable your blanket is..." answered Pearl. It made her current situation a lot easier, to say the very least...though it felt weird being unable to move her arms.

"I never really noticed it..." noted Oyster.

"You sure you still like my hammock better?" asked the mermaid.

"I really like that hammock..." stated the boy.

"Well, your father did get that for me..." answered Pearl. Apparently, he had thought ahead before going to the slave auction. She was a bit surprised how much belly he had.

Of course, he did have a big belly...

"That's true..." nodded Oyster. Maybe he should ask his father to get him his own hammock.

"Personally I think that your original bed was better...though I will admit that I didn't mind sleeping in that hammock either..." noted Pearl. It was rather relaxing to sleep in it...though she had a tendency to fall down whenever she tried to get out of bed. Sometimes not having legs was a problem...though she did like her fins. Oyster in question liked them more than she did.

He in fact wished that he could be a merman...however, she convinced him that he should remain a human, just like she wished to remain a mermaid.

Besides, one could consider him to already be half-merman anyway.

"I wonder when your father is going to untie us...though admittedly I don't mind this blanket..." noted Pearl.

"Didn't you say that you loved the way my blanket felt?" inquired Oyster.

"That's right..." nodded Pearl, smiling.

"Personally I like this way the carpet feels..." noted the boy. Then again, the carpet wasn't meant to be a blanket. Maybe it was a particularly comfortable brand so that people could rest their feet on it.

"Glad you're enjoying it then..." stated the mermaid. It would probably be best if they could use their arms again though. Sometimes she wanted to flex her muscles.

Meanwhile, Oyster's father was reading a book about "How To Tame A Ferocious Mermaid". Hopefully he could get his mermaid to stop doing such crazy things such as tormenting his son.

"Let's see now..." stated Lachell.

Immediately, he began to flip through the pages.

Apparently, mermaids just so happened to like chocolate.

"Ah-ha..." murmured the man.

Fortunately, he just so happened to have some chocolate on him.

Now he just needed to go visit Pearl so that he could give her the chocolate.

Hopefully she would start behaving herself this time. She was a BAD girl...how exactly did her parents raise her?

...though his son Oyster would likely argue otherwise. Why were they so close, anyway?

Immediately, Lachell went to go visit his son and his slave.

Quickly, he opened the door and untied Oyster.

"Are you going to untie Pearl?" inquired Oyster.

"Not until she eats this..." answered Lachell.

"Eat...what?" asked Pearl. She sure hoped that it wasn't a pufferfish...those could get rather spiky.

Immediately, he pulled out some chocolate bars.

Pearl raised an eyebrow...but decided to eat the chocolate. Oyster had given the chocolate to her once before, after all.

But...why exactly was her slavemaster being nice to her? Was he being pragmatic?

Sure enough, she found it to be delicious.

"Woohoo!" exclaimed the mermaid.

Lachell untied Pearl shortly afterwards. Maybe now she wouldn't treat his poor son like garbage.

Shortly afterwards, he decided to read his book again to see if there was anything else he should know.

However, he found something alarming.

"I shouldn't give the mermaid too much chocolate?" asked Lachell.

It then occurred to him that maybe he had given Pearl too much.

Perhaps he should have read through the book a bit better.

Suddenly, Pearl began to act rather...crazy.

"Owoooooo!" exclaimed Pearl.

"Why is Pearl acting like a wolf?" asked Oyster. Was she raised by sea wolves? He thought she used to live with her parents.

Maybe she had been bitten by a werewolf...however, it didn't seem to be a full moon outside.

In fact, it was still daytime.

Were they any werewolves in his neighborhood? He wondered if he should try eating them...if they didn't want to put him on their menu.

"Fear me! I am invincible!" bellowed the mermaid.

"Oh no! Pearl!" exclaimed the boy.

Lachell pressed his hand against his face.

"You cannot stop me! I am the queen of the world!" exclaimed Pearl.

Lachell banged his head against the wall.

Immediately, Oyster wondered what he should do in this crazy situation.

Quickly, he began to think of what to do.

Suddenly, he remembered that mermaids were typically vegetarians. Perhaps he could use that to his advantage.

Sure enough, he went to go get some food from the fridge...while his father continued to bang his head against the wall. He was worried that his father was going to hurt himself.

Of course, Oyster did have a hard noggin...so maybe he inherited that from his father.

He came back with some sausage links...and he made Pearl eat one.

Oddly enough, this seemed to do the trick.

Pearl scratched her head.

"Oyster, why are you giving me meat? Granted, I don't think it tastes bad...but don't you know that I prefer vegetables?" asked Pearl. She was a mermaid instead of a fishman, though she supposed Oyster may have forgotten that.

Oyster's father stopped banging his head against the wall. Oddly enough, there appeared to be a small imprint. Just how hard was he banging it?

"Not my wall..." thought Oyster. Pearl probably wouldn't like that either.

"You were having a chocolate rush...I had to find a way to bring you back to your senses..." answered Oyster.

"That explains why my head is hurting a bit..." noted Pearl.

Oyster began to rub Pearl's head.

"Thanks..." smiled the mermaid. Who needed Advil when Oyster was around?

Of course, Oyster might give other people headaches considering she understood him better than most. He didn't seem to leave the house very often, though.

"I didn't know that you could tolerate eating meat..." answered Oyster.

"I didn't say that I hated to eat meat...I just said that I preferred vegetables..." stated Pearl. Perhaps one of her ancestors was a fishman. If she ever got home, it might be in her interest to check her family tree on the matter.

Wait...trees didn't grow underwater.

"So you're a bit omnivorous?" inquired the boy.

"I guess..." answered the mermaid. She still wanted to eat some vegetables.

Glad that the chocolate rush was over, Lachell decided to reconsult the manual.

Apparently, not all mermaids were ticklish...meaning the Feather Of Retribution probably wouldn't be effective as to keeping them all in line. Pearl just so happened to be one of the unlucky ones, it seems...though she didn't mind being tickled.

"What? Awww..." murmured Lachell. What if he wanted to get another mermaid slave?

Then again, there were a lot of species available. Perhaps he should see if there were more books on subjects like that.

"I might want to avoid eating so much chocolate in the future..." acknowledged Pearl.

Oyster began to wipe off the chocolate off of Pearl's face.

"I'm not sure what came over me..." noted the mermaid.

"Me neither..." nodded Oyster.

"But at least I'm fine now..." stated Pearl.

"I was worried about you..." noted the boy.

"Sorry about that..." apologized the mermaid. She didn't want to make Oyster upset.

"You were acting a bit like me..." answered Oyster.

"What? Oh yeah...you've always been a bit hyper, haven't you?" inquired Pearl.

"I sure have..." nodded the boy.

"Just try not to do anything crazy, will you?" asked the mermaid.

"Alright..." agreed Oyster.

Immediately, he and Pearl gave each other a fist bump.

"Oddly enough I don't think your father gave me some chores today...maybe I'm getting a day off..." answered Pearl.

"Isn't it awesome?" inquired Oyster.

"It's nice getting a break every now and then..." nodded the mermaid.

"Now I get to spend the day with you!" exclaimed the boy.

"It's awfully nice to get to spend time with you...even if I'm from the sea and you're from land..." agreed Pearl.

"It's a bit of an odd friendship, isn't it?" questioned Oyster.

"I think that we share some interests...though I can see why you would think that..." nodded the mermaid.

Immediately, Pearl and Oyster decided how they should spend their day.

They certainly had some ideas...

"I just hope that Oyster doesn't come up with anything crazy..." thought Pearl.

_I hope that you liked this chapter...so far people seem to enjoy it though admittedly it hasn't attracted too much attention...since I like writing for this story I decided to make another chapter._


	10. Chapter 10: Amusing Oneself

_In this chapter, Pearl, Oyster, and Lachell are going to an amusement park. Yes, I'm aware that they went to an aquarium previously. But this time it's going to be different, trust me._

_At this point you could say that Pearl and Oyster are honorary brother and sister...I was originally intending Oyster to be somewhat of a love interest to Pearl...but maybe they don't have to be. Heh heh._

_Still, I'm up for that._

**Chapter 10: Amusing Oneself**

After the incident with the chocolate that had made Pearl really really hyper, Oyster wondered if his father was planning on going to another trip...similar to the aquarium that they had visited earlier.

As it turned out, he was. Currently, he was visiting websites to see if there was something that he and Oyster would enjoy.

Eventually, he managed to find something.

In this case, it was an amusement park.

Hopefully they would be amused instead of annoyed...bad amusement parks tended to do that. Perhaps they should call them annoyment parks.

Fortunately, it appeared that the amusement park they were going was rather entertaining judging from all the positive reviews that critics had given it.

It was known as Seven Flags...

In fact, it sounded rather heavenly.

Then again, maybe the manager wasn't an angel. He wasn't exactly sure what he was like considering that he had never met him before.

Sometimes it was best to get to know someone first...but he didn't have that kind of time.

Shrugging, he decided to give it a shot. He did have the money...especially since Pearl was saving him a lot of chores around the house. Why didn't he get a slave before?

Of course, he typically had his son do the chores to begin with before Pearl came along. Maybe that was why he agreed to help Pearl since she had fins for feet and therefore couldn't walk around the house.

Sure enough, he pulled out a map of the park. He wanted to know which one they should visit first.

Maybe they should eat the cotton candy? He bet that Oyster would love that...though he wasn't so sure about Pearl. She seemed to prefer chocolate.

Alternatively, they could try the rollercoaster...if it didn't make him feel sick to his stomach. Lousy motion sickness.

Fortunately for Lachell, there was a section of their website that he could use to buy tickets. That certainly made things a lot easier, didn't it?

However, he wondered if someone else had thought of that.

Miraculously, they were not sold out despite how popular the amusement park was.

"Thank goodness..." stated his father. If they were sold out, he'd flip.

Well, he supposed he could simply find another amusement park if that happened. How many amusement parks were they in the area, anyway?

Quickly, he got three tickets. One for himself, one for his son...and one for his slave...AKA Oyster's honorary sister.

Wait...did that make her his honorary daughter?

Shrugging, he decided to go get Oyster and Pearl so that they could head to the amusement park. He just hoped that the amusement park deserved its decent reviews and that the people that wrote those reviews hadn't lost their marbles.

How many crazy people were there on the planet anyway? Piracy DID appear to be on the rise.

"Isn't this great, Pearl? We get to go to an amusement park!" exclaimed Oyster.

"Yeah...I've already been to amusement parks once or twice. They were underwater though..." answered Pearl.

"Uh-huh..." stated the boy.

Immediately, he got into his car along with Oyster and Pearl. Of course, since Pearl was a mermaid, she didn't need to put her shoes on.

Sure enough, there were already other people at the amusement park.

Hopefully there would be something that they could enjoy.

Oyster wondered which ride they should try first.

Suddenly, he had an idea.

"I know! Let's try the roller coaster!" exclaimed Oyster.

"In case it's not not obvious, I'm technically a sea creature, not a land creature." answered Pearl.

"We could try something different..." stated the boy.

"It's alright. I just wanted to make sure you knew..." said the mermaid.

"Sometimes I can be forgetful..." spoke Oyster. Of course, he never seemed to forget that Pearl couldn't walk considering he always carried her around.

Wasting no time, Oyster, Pearl, and Lachell went to the roller coaster.

Of course, there was a sign saying "You Must Be This Tall To Ride".

Fortunately, although Pearl could not walk, she COULD stand on her tail fins.

She was tall enough to ride.

The three of them entered it and sped off across the track. Hopefully it would be safe and that there hadn't been accidents in the past.

Thankfully, there had not.

"Wheeee!" cheered Oyster.

Pearl smiled. It was rather nice to get to ride on a roller coaster with Oyster.

However, when they got off, Lachell was feeling sick to his stomach. Apparently, he had not enjoyed the ride as much as Pearl and Oyster did.

Perhaps they should try something different.

Suddenly, Pearl had an idea.

"Why don't we try the water slide?" asked Pearl.

"That's a great idea!" exclaimed Oyster.

Lachell was not surprised that Pearl would try that, to say the very least.

Fortunately, Oyster had brought his swim trunks for such an occasion.

However, Pearl was not looking forward to the sight of seeing his father shirtless.

Luckily for Pearl, Lachell had not brought swim trunks.

Together, the three of them entered the water slide.

"Wheee!" cheered Oyster.

Oddly enough, Pearl enjoyed it more than Oyster did.

Once again, Lachell was feeling sick to his stomach.

Personally, he wanted to do something OTHER than an amusement park ride.

Fortunately for him, Oyster had an idea on something else that they could do.

"I know!" exclaimed Oyster.

Immediately, he pointed to a booth.

"Huh?" asked Lachell.

As it turned out, he was pointing out to a can knocking game. There were many different prizes available depending on how well they did.

Perhaps he could try knocking down some cans.

He just needed to have good aim.

Unfortunately, he did not.

"D'oh!" exclaimed Oyster. Maybe he needed to look before he aimed.

"Want me to try?" asked Pearl.

Oyster nodded.

Fortunately, Pearl was much better at it.

"Wow! You rock, Pearl!" exclaimed Oyster.

"Thanks..." answered Pearl.

As a reward, Pearl got a fish plush.

She found it to be rather ironic considering who she was.

Shrugging, she decided to hand it to Oyster.

"Yay! Thank you, Pearl!" cheered the boy.

"You're welcome." answered Pearl.

Personally, Oyster wondered if he should do something else with Pearl. She seemed rather good at the amusement park games.

Suddenly, he noticed that they were selling cotton candy.

He was looking forward to trying it out. He simply loved candy.

Of course, so did Pearl.

Likewise, Pearl decided to do so as well.

Sure enough, there was a man selling it at yet another booth.

Appropriately, it had Cotton Candy written on it, signifying what they were selling.

Fortunately, the cotton candy was inexpensive...though Oyster wondered why they were using cotton to make candy instead of clothes.

Nonetheless, he happened to enjoy eating the cotton candy.

Pearl enjoyed it as well. She could see why Oyster had wanted to try it.

For their next stop they decided to visit the local arcade. Maybe that would be fun...though it would probably be best not to spend too many coins on it. Wouldn't want to end up having empty pockets now.

Sure enough, there were several games that they could play.

For the first arcade game, Oyster decided to play Cap-Man...a man who for some strange reason liked to eat power pellets and resembled a giant pizza. Also, he was wearing a pizza cap.

His nemesis were ghosts...who wanted to give him boo-boos.

Didn't exactly sound like fun, did it? For the plumber, of course. For him it did sound like fun.

Immediately, he began to eat the power pellets, watching as his score got higher.

Though he was happy that he was scoring points, he wondered what the big ones did.

He decided to find out.

As it turned out, the big power pellets made him temporarily invincible...he could eat his enemies instead.

It was rather ironic, really. Who would have thought that the hunter would become the hunted?

Well, it worked for him. He wanted to get more points so that he could get on the high score table.

Unfortunately, the ghosts managed to catch him...three times.

And with that, it was a Game Over.

"Aww..." murmured Oyster.

On the lighter side of things, he got #4 on the high score tables.

"Yay!" cheered the teenage boy.

Personally, he wondered what game he should try next.

"Hmm..." thought Oyster.

Shrugging, he decided to play the game called Monkey Kong...

Unfortunately, the evil monkey blew up the plumber with his banana launcher.

"Nooooo!" screamed Oyster.

Shortly afterward, a Game Over appeared on screen. Apparently, things hadn't gone so well for the poor unfortunate plumber.

Unsurprisingly, his girlfriend happened to be crying. Oh the humanity.

"Is something the matter?" asked Pearl.

"The evil monkey killed the plumber..." said the boy. He looked rather upset.

"Do you...want me to give it a try?" inquired the mermaid.

"Uh-huh..." nodded Oyster.

Pearl decided to put a coin in the machine.

Fortunately, she seemed to be doing better than Oyster was doing.

The evil monkey tried hitting the plumber with his banana launcher...but he rebounded the missiles.

Frustrated, the evil monkey went further up the skyscraper.

Naturally, the plumber decided to pursue him.

This time, the evil monkey pulled out a chainsaw and began to chase the plumber, forcing him to run.

"Who would give an evil monkey a chainsaw?" questioned Pearl.

Fortunately, after a few minutes from running away from the evil monkey to avoid meeting a nasty end, the evil monkey tripped over a banana peel...which ironically he had left behind earlier.

Apparently he was paying the price of littering.

"Serves him right..." thought the mermaid.

However, she wondered what other weapons he had.

This time, he pulled out...an electric guitar?

In this case, it literally shot out lightning.

Frantically, Pearl attempted to move the plumber so that he didn't end up getting zapped. Who would have thought that the evil monkey would use a guitar as a weapon?

Pearl sure hoped that his overalls were made of plastic...though that seemed rather unlikely.

Oddly enough, she didn't appear to have lost any lives so far. Judging from the fact that the plumber lacked a health bar, it appeared that everything killed him in one hit.

Fortunately for Pearl, she managed to trick the evil monkey into entering a puddle of water.

When he tried to use the electric guitar again...he got electrocuted for his trouble. Didn't his mother teach him that water and electricity didn't mix?

Of course, considering how evil the monkey was...perhaps he didn't listen to his mother when he was growing up.

Furious, the evil monkey pulled out a laser cannon.

Personally Pearl wondered if this was a platformer or a sci-fi game. Maybe it was somehow...both?

This game was getting crazier and crazier, it seemed.

Naturally, Pearl was forced to leap over the shots.

Eventually, the monkey missed...it rebounded off a mirror, and it hit him in the face.

Personally, Pearl wondered what weapon he would pull out next. Surely he was running out of weapons this now.

This time, he pulled out...a giant spaceship?

Immediately, he began to attack the plumber using all sorts of bizarre weapons. Pearl wondered if she stood a chance.

Frantically, she attempted to avoid the missiles. Fortunately, there was a target signifying where the missiles would strike next.

Fortunately, she could take down the spaceship...by tossing hammers at it?

Whatever worked, she guessed.

Eventually, the spaceship was shot down, and the evil monkey died. Serves him right. Maybe in the next life he would try to change his evil ways. But maybe not.

"Alright! I got him!" cheered Pearl. Does this mean that she managed to beat the game? If so, she was rather proud of herself.

Afterwards, the plumber reunited with his girlfriend...who thankfully had not been in the spaceship when it exploded.

"Wouldn't want that to happen now..." stated the mermaid.

Unsurprisingly, his girlfriend gave him a kiss...though she wondered how she had gotten into that mess in the first place.

"I wonder if I got on the high score tables..." questioned Pearl.

As it turned out, she did...she was first place on the high score table in fact.

"Wow...did I really do that good?" inquired the mermaid.

Sure enough, the other people at the arcade were rather impressed.

Immediately, they began to compliment her.

"Great job!" exclaimed a boy.

Oyster in particular was impressed considering he couldn't even get past the first level.

But Pearl had managed to go all the way...and then some.

Suddenly, Oyster's father showed up. Apparently he wanted to go home, as it was getting late.

Pearl nodded. It WAS getting late. In fact, the sun was starting to go down. They wouldn't want to start feeling sleepy while they were away from their nice warm beds.

Besides, the amusement park wasn't going to stay open together. People working at the park wanted to go home too. Their families were probably waiting for them to return.

Immediately, she went into the car along with Oyster. Well, technically Oyster carried her, as usual.

Lachell began to drive them back home shortly afterwards.

It was good to be back home, though Pearl wondered if she would get to enter the ocean again.

Well, the water slide was rather decent, at least. She just loved water. She certainly wasn't going to become hydrophobic anytime soon.

After all, she WAS a mermaid.

"That was awfully fun!" exclaimed Oyster.

"It sure was..." nodded Pearl.

"And I got to spend the day with you!" bellowed the boy.

"Don't you always get to spend the day with me? We do share the same room..." noted the mermaid. As such, they did tend to spend a lot of their time together. Not that she minded though.

"Oh, yeah..." answered Oyster.

"I'm glad you enjoyed it though..." stated Pearl. So did she, actually. Who would have thought that she would get first place in an arcade game? It was rather surprising.

Perhaps they should visit another amusement park sometime. How many amusement parks were there in their area, anyway?

He just hoped that he would get to play more arcade games. They were awfully fun.

Maybe he should play Toadder...it was about a toad that wanted to get to a lily pad.

Unfortunately, he had to dodge incoming traffic...for some strange reason most of the drivers were intoxicated.

And for some strange reason, the toad could not swim. At all.

Why couldn't he do that? Wasn't he an amphibian?

Then again, he did have rather short legs, since he technically wasn't a frog.

Why did he need to visit his lily pad, though? Toads could travel far from water, though technically they still needed water to survive.

Alternatively, they could try another amusement park ride. The ferris wheel seemed nice. Maybe he could enter it with Pearl. She probably would enjoy that.

Oyster began to yawn. Spending the day at the amusement park had gotten him rather tired.

Pearl was starting to feel it too.

Shrugging, they both went to bed.

Hopefully the next day would be as enjoyable as the previous.

_I hope that you enjoyed this chapter...I'm trying to think a bit outside the box. I suppose it would be more interesting if Oyster got out of the house along with Pearl, even if Pearl IS a slave..._

_Any suggestions for what I should do in the next chapter? Hopefully it'll be something fun...just try not to suggest anything too crazy. I did design this fanfic to be rated PG._


	11. Chapter 11: Magic Trick

_In this chapter, Pearl's going to participate in a magic trick! As in, she's going to get sliced in half! Don't worry, she's going to be fine. I don't kill my characters very often. I don't want to make my fanfics needlessly depressing...even if I did go with a downer beginning, what with Pearl being enslaved by Oyster's dad._

_Besides, this is more of a cute fanfic than a scary one. I've also included cute moments in some of my other fanfics too as you can probably tell if you've read them._

**Chapter 11: Magic Trick**

Pearl lied on Oyster's bed, happily relaxing. As usual, she was having a good time with Oyster. If it weren't for him, she would probably be feeling rather depressed right now. She needed the company. She might not be under the sea like she was used to...but Oyster's home was rather nice.

Since Oyster's father had locked the door once again, it looked like she was stuck in the same room as Oyster, not that she minded. If she wanted to she could look for a lockpick, but she didn't feel like leaving Oyster's room.

Pearl wondered how a slacker like Oyster's dad could afford such a house in the first place. Was he even employed? If so, he was probably the worst employee at his workplace.

Currently, her head was rested on one of his pillows. She wasn't feeling particularly sleepy...but since she found the bed to be rather comfortable she was lying on it anyway. Besides, Oyster's dad wasn't demanding her to do anything yet, so she had some free time.

"Are you feeling good?" asked Oyster. He noticed that Pearl was smiling today. Of course, he felt like smiling too. He usually had a smile on this face.

"I sure am..." nodded Pearl. It was a nice day. Currently, it was rather sunny. It didn't seem like it was going to rain anytime soon.

Oyster began to rub Pearl's bare belly with his right hand. Why not give her a nice warm belly rub? She appreciated it.

Unsurprisingly, she began to giggle as Oyster did so. That was one of her sweet spots, though at the same time Oyster's touch felt rather gentle.

"You're tickling me again!" exclaimed Pearl.

"Whoops, sorry!" apologized Oyster. He didn't mean to cause any trouble.

"It's alright...it's nice having a good tickle every now and then." stated the mermaid. After all, she got the feeling that Oyster liked hearing her laugh. Besides, Oyster had a rather nice touch.

"Alright..." nodded the boy. It was a good thing that Pearl wasn't upset.

Once again, he began to rub Pearl's belly, causing her to chuckle. Of course, he was gentle so that he wouldn't end up giving Pearl a stomachache by accident.

She then flipped herself over so that she could lie on her stomach.

"You can rub my back now..." stated Pearl.

Oyster nodded and she began to rub Pearl's back like she requested. Unlike her stomach, rubbing her back did not tickle her.

"Wow! You're a good massager!" exclaimed Pearl. She was having a lot of fun for a slave.

"Thank you!" bellowed Oyster.

Once again, Pearl was glad that she met Oyster...though admittedly he was human instead of merman. Apparently you could be friends with someone even if they weren't quite the same species.

At that very moment, she noticed a car entering the driveway.

It looked like Oyster's dad was home.

"Did he go to the tavern again?" asked Pearl.

"He better not be driving home drunk..." worried Oyster.

Shortly afterward, Oyster's father came in.

"Can I help you?" questioned the mermaid.

This time, Oyster's dad wanted to do some gardening.

"I need you to water my flower..." stated the man. He got the feeling that it was rather thirsty.

"Alright..." nodded Pearl. That seemed rather simple. Still, it would probably be a good idea to do it quickly to make sure that the flower didn't end up wilting. That would make Oyster's dad very unhappy.

Immediately, Oyster's father gave Pearl the watering can.

"Hurry up already! I don't have all day!" exclaimed Oyster's dad.

"Alright, be patient!" answered Pearl.

Ironically, Pearl could water the flowers without using the watering can...but she decided to use it anyway.

Unfortunately, when she attempted to water the flower, she ended up tipping the vase over instead. Things were not going according to plan.

"Whoops!" exclaimed Pearl. She was a bit clumsy today.

Unsurprisingly, she ended up breaking the vase. Vases didn't come cheap, either. Was she going to have to work overtime?

This made Oyster's father rather angry, who immediately glared at Pearl. She started to feel rather nervous.

He did not make her his slave so that she would go on around breaking things! Oyster already did that.

"I worked hard on growing that, you herbicidal maniac!" exclaimed the slavedriver. Now he was going to have to get another vase and plant another one. Unfortunately, his thumb was not green. He hadn't been dunking it in radioactive waste.

"Sorry!" apologized Pearl. Maybe she could get some glue to put the vase back together? Alternatively, she could simply get a dust pan and use it to clean the pieces off the floor. She wouldn't want Oyster to step on them later.

"For that I'm going to saw you in half!" bellowed the man.

Suddenly, lightning struck outside. Was it supposed to rain today?

Pearl gasped. Was she going to die? Surely there was something else that she had to live for.

"My son wants to do some magic tricks..." explained Lachell.

"Oh..." stated the mermaid. That made sense.

A few minutes later, Pearl found her head and shoulders picking out from one side of a box while her fins were sticking out from the other.

Sure enough, Oyster was getting ready to perform the magic trick. He was dressed in a magician outfit.

"Here I go!" exclaimed Oyster.

Immediately, he began to saw into the box.

Fortunately, Pearl did not feel a thing. Perhaps the saw was dull?

He kept on going, until eventually Pearl's fish half and her human half had been separated.

"Presto!" exclaimed Oyster. Now if only there was an audience to applaud him. On the other hand, if he did magic tricks in public, he was bound to get stage fright sooner or later. Where was a glass of water when he needed it?

"Wait...if you sawed me in half, does this mean that I'm human or a fish?" questioned Pearl. That was a rather interesting question.

Oyster scratched his head. He wasn't sure of that either...though he supposed he wouldn't really mind whether Pearl was a human OR a fish.

"I'm not sure...maybe you can be whatever you want to be..." stated the teenage boy. Personally he was content with what he was, since Pearl stated that he should remain human and not become a merman similar to how Pearl was a mermaid.

"So, you're saying if I wanted to be a robot I could do that?" questioned the mermaid.

Oyster shrugged.

"Just watch out for magnets..." answered Oyster.

"Right, of course. I wonder how I'm going to get back together..." stated Pearl. It felt funny being separated like this.

Oyster put the boxes back together, thus making Pearl a mermaid again.

"Oh, right. Of course." nodded Pearl.

He then began touching Pearl's tail fins.

Once again, she giggled.

"You really like hearing me laugh, don't you?" inquired the mermaid.

Oyster nodded. He thought it was rather cute whenever she laughed.

"Now are you going to let me out of this box?" asked Pearl. If she didn't get out of there, she wouldn't be able to do what Oyster's father requested of her.

Before he did that, he decided to rub Pearl's shoulders.

"This feels good..." remarked Pearl.

Afterwards, he unlocked the box so that she could have some freedom...relatively considering that she was a slave.

"There we go." stated the mermaid as she crawled out of the box.

"How was the magic trick?" questioned Oyster. He had been looking for an assistant for a while...but he hadn't been able to find one until Pearl "volunteered".

"Pretty good...though it felt weird being human..." noted Pearl.

"You're used to being half-fish, huh?" asked the magician.

"I sure am." nodded the mermaid. "Any other magic tricks you want to perform?"

Oyster nodded.

As it turned out, he wanted to pull a rabbit out of a hat...but since he didn't have a rabbit he would pull HER out of the hat instead.

"Are you sure that I'm going to fit?" asked Pearl.

"If you got stuck I can always pull you out..." stated Oyster.

"Whatever you say..." nodded the mermaid.

Since she was acting as a rabbit she put some bunny ears on her head.

"Am I all set?" asked Pearl.

Oyster nodded. Of course, he wouldn't mind even if Pearl didn't put on the bunny ears.

Immediately, Oyster placed Pearl inside the magic hat.

"You ready, Pearl?" asked Oyster.

"I am!" exclaimed Pearl from within.

He then began to pull her out.

However, as soon as she reached her midriff, she got stuck.

"Uh-oh!" exclaimed Pearl. She was afraid that this was going to happen.

"I guess I'm going to have to try to pull you out..." stated Oyster.

"Take your time." said the mermaid.

Immediately, Oyster grabbed Pearl's stomach and began to pull.

Unsurprisingly, this made her snicker.

"Hmm...it looks like this is going to make you laugh, huh?" asked Oyster. He wasn't sure how he was going to pull Pearl out without tickling her.

"Well, it's something that I'll probably about laugh later..." stated Pearl.

"How long have you had a ticklish stomach?" inquired the boy.

"Well, I know I've had it since I met you..." remarked the mermaid.

Oyster continued to lift Pearl out of the hat, Pearl giggling all the while.

Finally, Pearl popped out of the hat.

"There we go!" exclaimed the mermaid.

Oyster sighed in relief. What if Pearl remained stuck in there?

"I think we'll laugh about this someday." stated the teenage girl.

"Weren't you laughing during it?" asked Oyster.

"That's because you were squeezing my belly..." explained Pearl.

"Heh heh...yeah...I guess we should get a bigger hat..." noted Oyster. What if Pearl got stuck again?

"You mean like a sombrero?" inquired Pearl.

"Maybe a sombrero..." stated the boy. He got the feeling that he could easily pull Pearl out from a hat of that size.

"Are you going to try making me disappear next?" questioned the mermaid.

"Make you disappear? No way!" exclaimed Oyster. She was his friend! Why would he want to make her disappear?

"Oh, right..." nodded Pearl. That would be the last thing Oyster wanted.

Immediately, Oyster put his magician outfit back into his bag. He felt that was enough magic tricks for one day.

"I didn't know that you had a magician costume..." questioned Pearl.

"I have a bunch of other costumes, actually." answered Oyster.

"Like...what?" asked the mermaid.

Immediately, Oyster reached into a box and began looking for another costume.

He found one shortly afterwards.

"There we go! I found a pirate costume!" exclaimed Oyster.

"A pirate costume?" asked Pearl.

"It's when I'm in a sailing sort of mood..." explained the boy. Fortunately, he didn't suffer from seasickness. Of course, he doubted that Pearl ever got seasick on account on being a mermaid. It would be like him getting landsick.

"I see..." nodded the mermaid.

Immediately, Oyster put on a pirate hat.

"You want a bandana?" asked Oyster.

"OK!" exclaimed Pearl.

Immediately, she put on the bandana so that she would look like a pirate.

Oyster also offered Pearl some trousers, but then he remembered that mermaids typically didn't wear pants.

Of course, Pearl didn't wear a shirt either. She simply wore a strapless bikini. Apparently mermaids liked wearing swimsuits.

"So...are you going to be making me walk the plank?" asked Pearl.

"Why would I do that? You can breathe underwater!" exclaimed Oyster.

"Right, of course..." nodded the mermaid. All she would have to worry about were those constantly hungry sharks that always showed up whenever someone was walking the plank.

How did they always know when that was going to happen? Maybe they just liked hanging around pirates.

Immediately, Oyster pulled out a toy sword and began to wield it.

Likewise, Pearl wielded one as well.

Unfortunately for Oyster, he ended up losing.

"Gotcha!" exclaimed Pearl.

"Darn it! You got me! Well, you want to head back to our room?" stated Oyster.

"Sure!" bellowed the mermaid.

Immediately, the two of them headed back to their room.

"I guess today was...magical." said the mermaid.

Sometimes she liked making puns.

_Isn't being a magician fun? Of course, you have to worry about the occasional tough crowd. Wouldn't want tomatoes to be tossed at you...though I suppose you probably like ketchup._

_Since Pearl is a mermaid I figured I would use her in a magic trick that involved her being sliced in half...I thought it would be rather amusing. You probably already get the joke by now._

_I decided that I might as well include some more magic tricks too._


End file.
